Ah! My Valkyrie!
by Dirna
Summary: What changes within Keiichi's life would occur if Belldandy did not grant his wish but Lind.
1. Ah! One Winged Lind gets a mortal!

Ah! My Goddess! Fan fiction.

Ah! My Valkyrie!

Chapter one: Ah! One winged Lind gets a mortal!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Ah! My goddess! That honor is for Kosuke Fujishima alone. So bow down to him mortals!

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**_Yggdrasil - Goddess Relief Office_**

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Karma, fate, fortune, or destiny: whatever it is you prefer to call it that which decides the life of humans is and was often altered within this small oval like room. The smell of plants and flowers encompass the room but the presence of actual plant life was limited. The marble floors and golden metal stripes that make up the floors and walls glisten majestically in a fashion that could warm the heart of even the coldest of any society. The room was quiet as several goddesses posing as statues, sitting in the air, without any outside help; waiting. Each and every goddess exercising their endless patience on the phone before them to ring for the opportunity to grant the wish of a mortal to increase the shares for heaven, the greatest joy a goddess within this office could hope for. For all but one goddess it was just one uneventful day after another, the phone before them remaining as lifeless today as it was the past couple of months. A mirror beside the phone of that one of the goddesses began to glow and soft white feathers seem to appear from within it. Once the glowing light faded, a woman with light brown hair, deep blue eyes and a matching blue ceremonial dress that also had yellow shapes and designs woven into it appeared within the room. This newly arrived goddess had a blue colored diamond shape on her forehead between her eyes and similar triangle shaped blue facial markings on her cheeks. The goddesses nearby turned their attention to the new arrival.

"Welcome back, another successful wish I take it." The goddess in similar with blue facial markings in the shape of a square and purple clothing asked while looking up, the slightest bit of jealousy and envy mixed within the pitch of her voice.

The goddess in blue nodded her head gently. "The client was very satisfied with his wish. He is now in the job he has always dreamed of." The goddess look as though she was glowing from within her she seemed so happy with her.

"Save some of the calls for us. Even if you are the best among us Belldandy you don't need to be getting 95% of the calls. Share the work with me a little bit will you?" A goddess behind Belldandy said not bothering to mask the annoyance in her voice. Belldandy just giggled sheepishly and innocently. Both the goddesses just lowered their heads and sighed to this knowing this was likely to continue.

A goddess wearing an entirely different set of clothing entered the room and floated over to the recently arrived Balldandy. "Welcome back, I've been awaiting your return. Skuld and Urd wish to speak with you, I was told they both will be waiting for you within Yggdrasil's Mainframe control room."

"Thank you, I will return shortly friends." Belldandy called out after listening to her message as she floated out of the oval room onto an open space that appeared to be within a mass of clouds, while doing so two large white wings appeared behind her. All around her were several large, floating marble structures that matched the décor of the Goddess Relief Office (GRO) as far as the eye could see and probably much further beyond that. Each of the platforms is being accompanied by a large golden ring slightly below the largest section of each platform. Plants also seem to grow neatly on the platforms, almost as if the plants growth were being guided by some unseen force.

Having said her goodbyes Belldandy flew off towards another platform, going faster than most normal mortal eyes could follow, but this speed was nothing for a goddess such as herself, she could maintain this pace for hours without so much as breaking a sweat, this was just one of the many perks of being a first class goddess and Belldandy, like all other goddesses of this rank; thought this was no special feat. She continued on until she reached her awaiting sisters.

Xxxxxxxxx

**Yggdrasil – Valkyrie training hall. Field 33**

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A woman in a white full body suit with blue lines running up and down various parts of the skin tight suit showed off her finely toned body. This was obviously a woman who took great care in keeping herself physically strong though she was also very pretty in the face. Her hair colored softly and light blue. The way the sun reflected off her currently made it seem almost white in its entirety. She had three blue circles on her forehead in the formation of a triangle that pointed downwards towards the bridge of her noise an additional two circles, slightly larger, one for each cheek. Her eyes were a bright blue, however that brightness was dimed by some bitter sadness she tried to shield herself from.

She posed herself in an unusual position and nodded. In the distance a figure that was too far to make out well tossed a large boulder toward the woman in white. A large pole axe materialized within her hands from some unknown origin and with a powerful swing the woman shattered the boulder with a single strike using the axe. Chunks of the boulder rained down around her, many of which striking her body at various spots but the woman remained still taking each and every hit from the once large boulder in stride, unflinching from the sting each hit gave her.

A clapping sound from behind the woman rang outward. The woman turned around and kneeled to the man that was approaching her face clearly surprised, however careful not to be disrespectful and look up towards him without permission.

The man approached her smiling the entire time. "That is quite an impressive feat; you are definitely the pride of the Valkyrie division Lind."

Still kneeling Lind replies. "Thank you for your kindness but I am still very weak." The shame could easily be heard in her normally loud and commanding voice.

"Please stop being so formal with me, rise and walk with me for a moment will you please." Lind seemed conflicted but ultimately agreed. "Your hair…" The man looks towards her as the two begin to walk noticing that Lind's hair was short on her left but long on her right. "Have you still not discovered the reasoning for your plight?"

Lind sighed sadly and a single wing appeared on the left side of her only. "I am still shamed with only a single wing." Lind explained as she made her shame disappear once again, not wanting to show it off longer then needed.

"There is no shame in your condition Lind; in fact I am here for that very reason. Soon an opportunity to become equal to your peers will present itself should you decide to take it from within the GRO. If you find yourself interested you are to wait in front of Belldandy's phone." The man explained as the two reached the end of the field, the ground just suddenly stopping in front of them."

"I don't mean to question your knowledge, Almighty, but why the GRO of all places? How can granting others wishes help me?" Lind asked thoughts of why this might be racing though her mind as fast as she could manage to no avail.

The ruler of heaven laughed a bit and put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust in me and you will not be called _One Winged Lind_ much longer, and I know how that name upsets you." Lind looked away trying to hide the sick look on her face. "I make my argument; now go, before you miss your chance, he should be calling soon." Lind seemed unsure at what she was being told, but coming from her master, the ruler of heaven; she knew there must be truth to it. So she flew to the office as fast as she could, kicking off from the edge of the land so hard the floating island listed far over until it was able to stabilize itself and even out. "Good luck, Lind." The Almighty wished as he watched her fly away as fast as her body would allow as another woman in a suit identical to Lind's approached the Almighty from his right, standing slightly behind him.

"Are you sure she is ready for a task of that sort? It doesn't exactly fit her skill set." The lady asked also watching as Lind who was nearly out of sight for even the other goddess.

The almighty turned to face her. "Nothing is ever certain; even I cannot see the future with total accuracy. That's the joy of life, in its unknowns. Wondering what tomorrow will bring us, how we will deal with it. In Lind's story when sacrifices need to be made. We all tell ourselves we will do the right thing no matter what. Do what needs to be done for the greater good no matter the cost. The truth is no one, not even I can say what she will do until she faced with that difficult decision herself. It's then that we will act based on her decision." The almighty turns back to where Lind was flying to, she now completely out of sight. "Until that time we will remain within the shadows and just observe."

"Why are you going to doing this to her? You could stop this easily yourself, why put her though such a tough task. It makes no sense at all!"

The Almighty looked a bit surprised that a goddess would take this tone with him, even if she was a Valkyrie but decides to let it go for now knowing she is only concerned for her comrade in arms. "I can't expect to be leader forever; there will come a time when even I need to step down. When that time comes someone needs to replace me and Lind is already as strong as me, maybe even stronger once she meets that mortal. He can also teach her that joy can be found from other things besides fighting."The ruler of heaven explained. The Valkyrie looked like she wanted to argue some more but she knew he was right at least about finding a replacement for him eventually. "For now we will sit back and watch Lind then we will act accordingly once she picks her path." He said as he teleported away.

_"Don't become too attached to him Lind… It will be easier for you later on to carry out what you must in the future when the time comes…"_ The lone Valkyrie thought as she walked away from the cliff and returned to her normal activities.

Xxxxx

**Earth realm – Nekomi Institute of Technology: College Dorm.**

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A college sophomore dressed in casual attire of a white shirt and blue jeans wakes up with a startle at the sound of someone pounding at his door. _"Wake up Morisato! Time to get up!" _An unusually loud voice called out from the other side of the door.

"I'll be right there." Morisato called back as he sat up and yawned. Morisato or Keiichi as many called him was your average college student, normal in looks, low on money and in a dorm. He sports typical black hair and brown eyes, common for those of Japanese decent. He was about five foot three inches. Looking around he noticed his various personal items scattered around the single room apartment. Most of the items within the room were old but surprising all in good condition and well within working order. The stale air within the room was because of the window that the previous tenant had for whatever reason nailed shut and decided to install iron security bars on both sides of the glass. "_Definitely someone with a severe case of paranoia."_ Keiichi thought to himself as he looked around at him home. _"Home, What a nice feeling to have my own."_ He thought pleasantly while his shoes on and dragged his feet outside for the morning exercises with the rest of the dormitory residents, something he always dreaded, especially first thing in the morning.

Outside in the make shift parking lot that was more of a large alleyway more than anything, the dorm inhabitants in their entirety formed a circle and began their morning exercises though no normal person would guess that at first glance, it looked more like something along the lines of yoga for the blind, dazed and confused. Nearly all the people within this particular dorm were also members of the Nekomi Institute of Technology (NIT) Motor club. This was due largely to the fact that the shared leadership of the club between Toraichi Tamiya and Otaki Aoyama recommending this particular dorm to their members. Both of them were great mechanics however they had conflicting ideas about how the club should spend its budget, also to add insult to injury neither knew how to shake the money tree as it were to boost the income of the club. As a result the club was once again doing nothing with the members of its club besides these bizarre exercises that seemed more like a cracked up version of yoga and drinking expired milk afterwards. All things in short Keiichi was not getting the college dream he had hoped for but still made the best of it he could. Another rule that bothered and vexed Keiichi was the rule of the dorm that prevented woman from being allowed, this more than anything spoiled Keiichi's mood. He was never good with woman as it was, and the dorm only made that fence for Keiichi had to climb over only that much higher. Keiichi meeting women while at this dorm was like comparing him to lemmings, each member of the dorm following one another to their peril they know what is coming for them at the edge of the cliff they all were about to leap from, but march on still at the same pace still, the women being the rocks below. Keiichi meets his goal… under _very _unpleasant terms however.

After the exercises Keiichi decided to get some sleep before going to his first class. Completely unaware his fortune was soon to do a one-eighty for the better.

He wakes sometime later to the sound of a television program about horoscopes. _"Who would believe in silly things like that, besides I know my fortune already._" Keiichi thought sadly knowing his own personal luck was never good. "Ah crap!" He shouts looking at the time he notices its 10:44 and he was going to be late for class. In his hurry he grabs his helmet and jacket then makes a dash for his motorcycle in the parking lot in their make shift exercise space. Arriving at the bike he walks it out and tries to start it up to find it is not working. He lowers his head in defeat and sighs. _"I should have guessed as much, this always happens to me."_

_xxxxxxx_

**Yggdrasil – Yggdrasil's mainframe central control room.**

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**Belldandy landed down gently on an unusually large platform and quickly made her way inside the structure. She was greeted by several large monitors as well as the three main system operators. Ere Ex and Chrono. Three second class goddesses that are given the task to make sure the mainframe in front of them was working properly all the time. "Urd! Skuld! Are you in here?" Belldandy called out looking very confused because neither of her two sisters were in sight.

Chrono, without turning around answered knowing already who that voice belonged to. "Belldandy, your sisters are not scheduled to work here today with us. Perhaps we can help you with something instead?" Chrono said over the sound of her fingers constantly pounding down on an invisible keyboard, the keys glowing as she touched down on each of them.

Belldandy was now totally confused and her face showed it. "No... I was just told that they wanted to meet me about something. It can't be all that important or they will find me themselves. Sorry to trouble you all, farewell." Belldandy bowed and was about to leave when the doors in the room slammed shut in front of her locking her in and making the room completely dark. After a few moments that the lights within the structure came to life for the four goddesses present within.

"Well that's not supposed to happen." Ere said aloud curiously as she made new screens appear in front of her. "I'll get those doors open for you as soon as I can Belldandy. Sorry for this trouble."

"Yes please, and thank you." Belldandy said as she sat down behind the three other goddesses and looked at the closed doors wondering what might of caused this error and why she was asked to come here when her sisters were not.

xxxxxxx

**Earth realm – Nekomi Institute of Technology**

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Keiichi runs on foot to the campus and watches as another student drives past him, completely ignoring him and his need for a ride. Campus life buzzed with the voices of students as each went about their day, following whatever today's schedule had brought them to. Each with their own motivations, most here for learning, some like Sayoko Mishima – the self titled queen of the campus was more interested in being popular with the student body above anything else. With looks and money this was not hard to accomplish, especially among the male half of the college population. Even Keiichi once took a chance on her, wearing a green striped suit which she flat out rejected walking away while telling him to grow seven or eight inches and he might possibly have a chance. Keiichi the lemming just hit the rocks labeled Sayoko Mishima that time.

Then there was Toshiyuki Aoshima, Sayoko's cousin. Being of the same family he was equally as rich though much more bashful unlike his female cousin. He did not wait for women to approach him like she did with the men. Instead he resorted to underhanded tactics to get what he wanted from the girls then discard them. This act quickly made him an enemy among women all over campus that not even his near infinite money supply could buy him out of, not that it stopped him from trying however. Given his negative reputation he focused on transfer students or anyone else who might be blissfully ignorant of his dirty little reputation.

Once in class keiichi was too exhausted to focus because of all his running so begins to drift in and out of sleep during the lecture. Just as he is snapped awake by being called on by the professor for wearing a white shirt. Keiichi being asleep was unable to answer, luckily for him he was spared any shame from saying he didn't know because the bell rung out throughout the class signaling the end of the day. "Saved by the bell." Keiichi called out to no one but himself in relief.

"That is right." Tamiya said from Keiichi's right, a large muscular man with a white muscle shirt. Tamiya is the kind of man that makes up for a lack of brains with raw strength. He is also the first half of the leadership for the motor club.

"Today's your lucky day." Otaki Aoyama said from the left. He was a man with blond spiky hair, black studded leather jacket and had car bolts for earrings. He made up for the second half of the leadership of the motor club.

Keiichi asked startled looking at back and forth at both of the members of the motor club, holding tightly onto his books.

"Now then, why don't we go and show everyone what we're made of?" Tamiya asked while holding his head up high, proud for coming up with another idea.

"You said it! We must go and make a strong push for more funding next year!" Otaki said while mimicking the movements of his counterpart within the club.

_"This will not end well for me, I know it." _Keiichi thought to himself holding his head low to the table in front of him in a feeble attempt to look as small as possible. "Um, actually I have another class right after this…"

"What did you say!" Tamiya shouted while standing up quickly and making a fist. Considering his size it was definitely an intimidating sight to behold. While Keiichi gazed up at the man before him. "Is that all the loyalty you can muster for our club?" Tears ran down the sides of his face as he continued. "I know we didn't raise you to be that way!"

"Well you didn't raise me at…" Keiichi tried to explain before was interrupted by Otaki.

"On November 15th of last year when you lost your wallet and starved yourself we gave you our onion and cabbage!" Keiichi turned to see Otaki leaning far over the table and also crying in a similar fashion as Tamiya. "Don't tell me you've forgotten that!"

The two tall men grab Keiichi by the stomach and lift him out of his seat and lift him out of the classroom before Keiichi even got a chance to respond. "We can discuss the details in the clubhouse." Tamiya said as the three made their way through the classroom doors.

"I told you, I have a class to go to!" Keiichi shouted as he squirmed and struggled in futility trying to get free of the two men's vice like grip they managed to get Keiichi into. The sounds of his cries muffled as the doors shut before him. A couple of lingering students looking on and thankful that it was not them being hauled away in such a barbaric manner.

xxxxxx

**Yggdrasil - Goddess Relief Office**

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The platform that held the GRO shook somewhat violently for a few moments not that the goddesses within noticed since they all sat down floating in the air. Each one of them knew the being that shook the office must have large amounts of magical power to shake things around so much without actually attacking. None of them paid it any attention however, taking total comfort in the fact that no demon with that kind of power could sneak into Yggdrasil without being discovered and halted by their leader. They all knew he would not allow it to occur lightly. A couple goddesses curiosity though did get the better of them as they turned to see the one responsible enter the room.

"Goddess, First Class License Special Duty Unlimited Lind reporting for duty." Lind called out to the room in an impassive and authorative voice. This turned heads as each goddess now looked upon Lind and all of them started whispering among one another. All talking and wondering why a Valkyrie, of all people was there. The white suit and unlimited license was all the convincing the goddesses needed to know she was without a doubt indeed a Valkyrie. Only members of that organization got these personal effects.

"What can we do for you Lind?" One random goddess asked while standing, trying to look as bold as she could before the valkyrie as if she was being inspected along with the others in this office by Lind.

Lind immediately turned her attention sharply to the speaking goddess, causing her to flinch and float backward away from Lind a bit. "I have been instructed by the Almighty to replace First Class Goddess Belldandy within the Office and perform all of her normal duties until I am ordered otherwise. I was expected to grant the wish of one Morisato keiichi." Lind said while holding a folder marked with his name along with a picture of him on it.

More quite chatter ran throughout the office until a goddess that sat besides Belldandy announced herself and pointed to the vacant phone. The goddesses stared at the door that Lind entered as she seemed to have disappeared. The goddesses after several moments noticed she was in front of Belldandy's phone with her eyes closed. All of them in shock that from a standing position Lind was able to fly faster than their eyes could track. If any of them still had doubts about her actually being a Valkyrie they were now without a doubt gone for sure. Still a bit rattled by that display the goddesses slowly one by one calmed and waited once again for their phone to ring.

While waiting for her call to come through like she was promised it would she decided to read further into Keiichi's file for any background information on him that might be useful in helping him decide on a wish he might want and help pass the time in the meantime also. "So what kind of a mortal is this Morisato Keiichi." Lind said aloud to self while skimming through the file. The two goddesses besides Lind looked at the Valkyrie then at each other from behind Lind and nodded at each other. Then the two grabbed the phones in front of them and moved further away from Lind, both just slightly disturbed that Lind was talking to her self. This marked the beginning of the most unusual mission Lind would ever get by far in her career as a Valkyrie, but one she'd learn to love soon enough.

Xxxxxx

**Earth realm – Nekomi Institute of Technology: Motor Club clubhouse.**

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"So as you can see the auto club has run though its budget for this month." Tamiya explained as he, Otaki, Keiichi and several other club members stood around a table as a nearly empty money box was opened before them with very few currency in it. "Does anyone know why?"

One club member dressed in a pink shirt pointed at Tamiya. "Because Tamiya got busted for stealing the window from the Assistant Dean's office and using it as a picture frame." Tamiya lowered his head in shame because of this lack of judgment. Though all the members knew to expect this sort of thing from Tamiya and Otaki.

"At any rate!" Tamiya shouted and slammed his hand into a billboard with various currency numbers scribbled all over it in a chaotic and unorganized manner. Most likely Okati's doing. "There will be no club activities for the rest of the month." He made a determined fist in front of him. "Therefore, today we will devote ourselves to fundraising!"

The entire club staff present minus Tamiya and Otaki lowered their heads and moaned in frustration, all of them knowing this was not going to end very well.

Xxxxxx

**Earth realm –** **Nekomi Institute of Technology**

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"Uh… bring your repairs to us… no job to small! Your bicycles, your cars, your radio-controlled toys, your tricycles, anything that has wheels! You can turn to us with all your problems!" Otaki shouted through a loud speaker while leaning out the window of a small white truck as they drove around the campus. "This is the Auto club's big chance to offer our services and hard earned skills to you all!"

_"How embarrassing…" _Keiichi thought as he stood in the bed of the truck in the back holding up a banner for the club while the other members sat on the wheel wells doing nothing but looking on bored and embarrassed as much as Keiichi._"At least they don't have to stand up here with me." _A sour thought passing through Keiichi's mind._  
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"There goes the Auto Club, pulling another bizarre stunt!" A girl in a white and blue sports jacket while holding a tennis racket mentioned. Obviously on the college's tennis team.

"And they wonder why they can't get any girls to join!" Another team member pitched in from behind the first girl to comment.

"There is one girl..." The first girl whispered to her friend in an embarrassed yet correcting manner.

Xxxxxx

**Earth realm –** **Nekomi Institute of Technology****: Classroom number?**

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A girl is leaning on her hand, clearly sleeping in class. She has messy brown hair, glasses, freckles, wears a brown work coat and a yellow shirt beneath it. That was Sora Hasegawa. She is the lone female member of the auto club.

Xxxxxx

**Earth realm –** **Nekomi Institute of Technology**

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"Got a car or motorcycle problems? Just leave it to the Nekomi Tech Auto Club!" Otaki shouted as the club made their way to the main parking lot of the University, getting the attention of attention of a student in a black overall trying to repair his motorcycle.

"Hey, Auto Club! Can you check this out for me?" The student asks while waving the motor club over. The truck backs up and the club gathered around his ride and look down at the bike. "The engine doesn't start. I don't think it's a problem with the spark plug." The owner explained.

Tamiya and Otaki stood tall listening to what was being told. Both have their arms folded over their chest, showing off their confidence. "Okay gotcha! No problemo. Let's go Dai-chan." Tamiya called out into the air.

"You got it Den-Chan!" Otaki also shouted into the air copying Tamiya moments before him. Otaki revealed the inside of his jacket and found a variety of screw drivers and an assortment of mechanic hand tools ready to be used while Tamiya looked down at the bike closely looking for any hints at what the issue with the bike might be. "Let's roll!" Otaki shouted spinning two wrenches between his fingers. Keiichi and the others watched as Otaki and Tamiya went to town on the bike, small parts of the bike flying off the bike.

After tightening one last screw Tamiya stood up once again folding his arms over his chest. "That's all she wrote, guys!" He shouted with his eyes closed. "An auto club original 'the Tamiya special'!"

"Actually I never asked you to customize the thing…" The student said sheepishly knowing the reputation the auto club had either it will be even worse now then before the work or they are planning to charge him a huge amount for this 'repair' or even worse if he was truly unlucky both would occur.

"Well, just take it for a spin and you'll be blown away by how spectacular it is." Tamiya said while standing up, his voice as loud as enthusiastic as ever. The bike owner got on the bike, turned the key and revved the engine and the machine sputtered to life.

The man was surprised in a delighted manner as the engine continued on normal waiting for its owner to give it some kind of command. "Hey, it's working! So how much do I owe you?" The student asked while placing a hand within one of his pockets.

Tamiya held out his unusually large hand, his eyes glimmering with money signs. "30,000…." The student drives off hearing this immediately, kicking up dust on the motor club. "…But since you're getting a discount today, that'll be just 15,000 yen." Tamiya continued, his eyes closed now thinking of the money and not the client drove away already. It took him a moment to realize he was long gone by now. "You bastard! You think you're gonna drive off without paying for my service?" Tamiya shouted while moving to the truck. "Go after him Morisato!" He shouted while pointing towards the direction the student drove off in. "EHHH!" Keiichi jumped in surprise hearing this.

The back of the truck becomes a ramp revealing Keiichi on a moped. Keiichi drives off and from behind him he hears Tamiya telling him not to return until he recovers the payment.

The student, soon to be a victim drove around a corner complaining. "Are you kidding? I can't fork over 30,000 yen!" A short distance behind Keiichi raced down the road to catch up. "_I know the seniors. If I don't bring back the money, they'll be hell to pay! I'd better take a short cut, or he'll make it off school grounds." _"Here goes nothing!" Keiichi exclaimed as he rode up the grassy hill to his left into some stone like structure within the university's park. Keiichi drove down a building's narrow hallway, forcing students and professors alike to flee into the closest classroom as Keiichi zoomed by. Keiichi continues this through most of the building, the screams of people and the humming of the engine signaling his current location. Eventually he exits the building jumping the moped over the steps going downwards and continuing onwards.

From up above on a student walkway Keiichi sees the victim on the normal road below as they both close in on the universities gate. The victim notices Keiichi much to his surprise. "You gotta be kidding me!" The student complained as Keiichi gave him a thumbs up hand sign before stopping him.

"Thank you for your patronage!" Keiichi said while bowing to the motor clubs victim as he drove off the campus and into town. "_Looks like I'll escape the wrath of the seniors now."_

"Morisato-kun!" An angry female voice called him from behind making him jump. Turning around he found a mob of angry students, each complaining at the same time about the damages to their clubs or projects when he drove through the buildings. They approached closer and closer and Keiichi's face goes blue with fear as he raises an arm to protect himself, not that it matters against these numbers.

Sometime later Keiichi sat down on some steps, his stomach growling and he holding his wallet upside down, looking clearly depressed. "They even made me hand over my lunch money, now I'm too broke to do anything today." Keiichi sighed while holding his head low. Thoughts of the punishment Tamiya and Otaki had in store for him put Keiichi into a cold sweat. Keiichi put his hands behind his head and leaned back trying to calm down. "This would have to happen on a Saturday! Since my bikes on the blink, I guess there's nothing to do but sit at home." Keiichi listened as a couple walked by talking about having pasta and going home together. This only depressed Keiichi further he had no girlfriend to be with. He began having daydreams of taking Sayoko out on a ride on his bike and that she was totally devoted to him. Dreams of driving her across the beach at sunset ran both laughing and smiling ran though his thoughts. "Yeah right." Keiichi said sadly holding his head in his hands. "Since my horoscope was pretty lousy I might as well go home." Keiichi mentioned to himself while lifting his bags and walking off.

Xxxxxxx

**Earth realm –** **Nekomi Institute of Technology****: College Dorm.**

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Keiichi arrives within the dorm and makes his way to his apartment room 203 and opens to find Tamiya, Otaki and a few others within the campus in his room.

"Hey you're late." Tamiya said sitting in front of Keiichi's table. They all watched as Keiichi approached and set down his bag.

"Are you using my kotatsu to warm up again?" Keiichi asked.

"Right, being that we have some business with you." Tamyia explains then sips from his cup of tea.

"I don't think this has anything to do with this…" Keiichi replies trying his hardest not to show his increasing frustrations with Tamiya and Otaki, especially as Tamiya as he sips loudly while Keiichi speaks.

"The thing is we're all going out tonight." Tamiya tells while setting down the tea cup. "There is a party tonight that we absolutely can't miss, see…"

"It's Saturday, I was planning to go out, too..." Keiichi tried to let in but was cut off as Tamiya face moved close to Keiichi's.

"Your Beemer's out of commission, so you won't be going anywhere, right?" Tamiya shouted, spraying bits of spit onto Keiichi's face. As Morisato tried to back away, the Motor club director followed in pursuit. Then suddenly moving away and going once again with the tears that he thinks gets to his fellow Club member to do whatever he wants. "It just wouldn't do to leave our precious dorm left standing empty!" Tamiya cried out, tears still flowing freely.

"I think it'll be fine if we just lock it!" Keiichi argued while holding his arms out trying to make his point known to the much larger man in front of him.

"Can you guarantee that?" An eerie voice called from behind Keiichi, startling and making him jump off the ground somewhat. Turning around Keiichi saw several other dormitory inhabitants crowding the doorway, all of them looking in at Keiichi and Tamiya. "Are you sure nothing will happen?" Another random tenant asked. "What if you lose your precious boom box from Den-Chan.?" A third asked. "How about your erotic magazine stash in the closet?" The second one who spoke earlier asked, following the leads of his friends.

"We all know we can trust in you Morisato." Tamiya stated with that suspicious look in his eyes that told the entire world he was up to something that was very sneaky and knowing Tamiya probably end horribly. "And so" he gives Keiichi a sheet of paper with a roughly written list. "I figured it wouldn't be any fun, just holding down the fort here so here's a list of tasks for you… do all of them and you won't be bored!" Keiichi looked at the huge list with a shocked, unbelieving look showing. "All right, we're counting on your, kid!" Keiichi heard a voice behind him and noticed Tamiya and Otaki were looking into Keiichi's room from the hallway along with the others previously looking into the room. Shutting the door before Keiichi had a chance to reply. Keiichi sighs and looks at the list.

_A list of today's tasks._

The top of the page reads as Keiichi looks it over. "_I guess I'm going to have to do it!"_ Keiichi thought grimly as he read down the rather large list in front of him

Bundling old magazines and putting them into the trash, falling halfway down the stairs making him repackage the magazines…

…up on the roof realigning the TV satellite antenna, nearly falling off the roof…

…cleaning plastic bottles…

…wash and dry the laundry for the entire dorm…

…pick up a delivery…

…clean the mattresses…

…scrub the bathroom floor.

After all the items on the list were completed he took what spare time he had left with the day to look over his bike. Still totally unable to discover the cause for its malfunctioning. Afterwards Keiichi returned to his room, dragging a phone in with him to wait for a call for Aoyama that was supposed to come in around seven or so. Keiichi falls asleep watching a movie involving racing cars while awaiting the phone call. Waking up just as the movie ended. He yawns and stretches and takes the tape and returned it to its case noticing on the cover it was due to be returned tonight. "_I don't have money for late fees!_" Keiichi thought as he looked at his clock and noticed the time was currently 6:10 pm.

Xxxxxxx

**Earth realm – Nekomi**

**

* * *

**

Keiichi ran down the sidewalk in town as the skies were just starting to become dark, the clouds in the nights sky beginning to disappear as it got more and more darker. "I just might make it in time!" Keiichi said to himself while running and looking at his watch. Not paying any attention to the fact he was drifting off the sidewalk and his foot lands inside a wet, filthy, sever drain. His shoe now soaked and giving off an unsavory smell. After brushing it off Keiichi continues onward to the video store. "_I guess it's not my lucky day after all._" Keiichi was however lucky enough to return the video tape before the store closed. Now to return back to the dorm before the call he was waiting on is missed. While on his way back, he notices a girl crying while walking down the street. He ran by her a short distance before stopping. "_I guess I can't just stand by and do nothing…"_ Keiichi turned around and caught up to the crying girl. "What's the matter?" Keiichi asked as he ran in front of the much smaller girl. "Are you in trouble?"

Keiichi was meet by a cute little girl with tears large in her eyes and her nose and cheeks red from all of her crying. Her being upset was an understatement. "I was sent to do the shopping and I lost my mother's wallet. I lost it!" The girl explained between tearful hiccups then began to cry again once she was done explaining. "And now I can't buy the fish!" The girl said trying to wipe away her tears with her stuffed toy doll.

"I see you dropped your wallet somewhere…" Keiichi said while trying to sounding as sympathetic to the girl's distress.

"That's right." The girl clarified while looking up towards Keiichi trying her best to hold back her tears.

"Why don't we look for it together?" Keiichi said warmly with a smile on his face, completely ignoring he still had to wait on a call back at home in the dorm.

"Okay!" The girl nodded, now calm enough to hold her tears back.

"When did you realize you dropped the wallet?" Keiichi asked as he walked with the girl though the town's shopping district.

"After I bought the radishes, I went to buy the fish, and it was gone!" The girl explained to Keiichi, her voice no longer filled and altered by the sound of her crying.

"Okay, then let's go back to the shopping arcade." Keiichi offered to her. Throughout the night Keiichi and the girl went from vendor to vendor, asking all the owners if they had seen the wallet. Holding her hand as she pouted from another dead end, she looked as if she was going to cry again when one of the vendors stopped the pair.

"Hey little girl!" The owner calls out and the two turn around. "You dropped your wallet, didn't you?" Both smiled hearing this, finally after tedious amounts of searching the two had found the wallet.

"My wallet!" The little girl cried out happily then ran to the shop owner to retrieve her missing possession.

"Be more careful from now on." The owner told her in a fatherly like tone. He sounded firm and tough, but also a tad bit sympathetic towards her.

"I'm sorry. But now I can buy the fish!" The girl was girl said cheerfully. Keiichi watched long enough to make sure the wallet was back in her possession safely before leaving without saying a word to either her or the owner.

"I see. Good for you to be running errands!" The owner said while rubbing the top of her head in an approving manner. Big brother! Now I can buy the fish… huh?" The girl looked in the direction Keiichi was standing to find he was now nowhere to be seen. "Big brother?" She called out again, and again there was no reply. A nearby digital clock read 6:49. Keiichi had only eleven minutes to return to the dorm to pick the call that soon to arrive.

Keiichi ran as fast as he could back to the dorm, his breath was labored as he continued running back to the dorm. The agony from running so far so fast plastered on his face as he carried himself onwards.

Xxxxxxx

**Earth realm –** **Nekomi Institute of Technology****: College Dorm**.

* * *

Keiichi arrived within the dormitory to the sound of a phone ringing, most likely the call he needed to be waiting for all of this time. "Yes… hello?" Keiichi answered as he tried to regain his breath. "Yes… yes… Aoyoma has gone to a college party tonight he'll be back around 9 pm. Yes I got that; I'll give him the message. All right goodbye." The person on the other end hung up before saying goodbye back giving Keiichi an annoyed look. "That was a close call." Keiichi said to the phone as he hung it up and went to take his coat off. "If I'd missed that call, I would've been in huge trouble!" Keiichi said pacing back and forth across a mirror. The clock on his dresser read 8:59 pm. "I need to call him with that message" Keiichi spoke aloud as he noticed the time. As he began to dial the numbers little did he know his life was going to be forever changed in a few seconds.

"Goddess help line. Lind speaking." A female voice on the other end of the phone spoke.

"Oh, I'm sorry, wrong number…" Keiichi tried to say but was interrupted Lind on the other end.

"I will take your request at your room." Lind said in a manner that was not asking as Keiichi would soon be arriving, with or without his approval.

"Wait a sec, what are you talking about." Keiichi said now getting a bit nervous about how this conversation was going. The mirror behind Keiichi began to glow and Lind stepped out of it right in plain view of Keiichi, freaking the boy out completely as he moved away as fast as he could.

"Goddess, First Class License Special Duty Unlimited Lind has arrived." Lind announced as she stood at attention for a moment waiting for instructions, then looked down towards Keiichi. "What is it that you wish to acquire?" Lind's eyes tracked Keiichi's movements as he cowered in a corner, making a mess in his panic. "It's hard to believe such a frail man has earned Yggdrasil's blessing."

Lind said aloud as she walked over to him calmly. "Allow me to introduce myself again. I am the Valkyrie Lind; I have come here to grant you a single wish. You somehow have received Yggdrasil's blessing."

Keiichi covered and held his arms in front of himself. "V-Valkyrie? Does this mean you have come to take my soul to the halls of Valhalla!" Keiichi asked being even more scared now than ever.

Lind couldn't help but find that amusing and her face showed it ever so slightly. "You're not exactly a brave warrior, and gathering souls isn't a job for a Valkyrie of my caliber which makes this assignment I find myself on even more annoying for me so make your wish already so I can return to more important tasks. There is bound to be a battle or two for me to be at right about now."

Keiichi remained in the corner as Lind continued to ask him to make a wish as this all slowly started to sink in. It was not every day that a heavenly warrior arrives through a mirror and tells you she has come specifically to grant you a single wish because he gained the favor from heaven.

The wheels of fate had begun turning for Keiichi in a way he had yet to comprehend. Whether or not this would be a good thing would be entirely on him and the wish he would soon have to make before the Valkyrie before looked on impatiently for him to decide what it is he wanted.

xxxxxxxxx

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Author's Notes:

This is my very first Fanfiction for this site so reviews and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also I realize up to this point the story has followed the anime almost scene for scene minus the parts in Yggdrasil.

Don't worry though I made it to the diversion point so expect new and hopefully fun stuff to read from now on.


	2. Ah! An agreement is reached!

"Any wish! Any wish at all!" Keiichi asked still very surprised by this sudden turn of events, the thought that a Valkyrie came to me of all people to grant a wish. There must be hundreds or thousands more deserving.

Lind just shrugged her shoulders, slightly uninterested. "I go where I'm told. I don't ask for details or explanations beyond what I'm allowed to know." Lind looked down at him and with some restraint on her part. The temptation within her was very strong. Bouncing him off the four corners of his room for taking so long to accept the fact Lind was real. _"Given the size of this place, it would be an easy task to perform."_ Lind comically noted to herself as walked away and turned Keiichi's table and sat down by it. "How many times do you intend to ask me that? My answer is not going to change. I'm allowed to grant your wish. But again keep in mind you only get a single one, so you had better make it count."

"But I was only trying to call Aoyama; instead I get some weird dressed girl to come out of a mirror telling me she will grant me a wish." Keiichi whispered to himself and glanced over at Lind who must have heard him. She was looking more and more terrifying with each second that ticked by. It was as if the clock in the room was taunting her. Each click it made reminding her of each second she was forced to wait on him. _"Wait! Come to think of it, how'd she come of the mirror? Not only that but she calling herself a Valkyrie."_

Keiichi turned his face to see Lind had abandoned the table. Her face now is just mere inches apart from his. She looked as annoyed as ever before. "Is something the matter?" She asked him. Keiichi freaks out that Lind was able to approach him so closely without so much as making a noise. Terrified he tries to back away from the intruder in his room, a tactic that would have worked. If only the closed closet door behind Keiichi would allow him to retreat further.

"Let me explain further since you seem incapable of understanding on your own." Lind stood up and tried to appear less threatening to him. "I was asked to fill in for a goddess within the Goddess Relief Office. I got a call from you while waiting for her to return so it falls to me to grant you your wish. Normally I am not tasked with such trivial matters. However when the higher ups give an order I follow it, which brings me here."

"Ah, sorry!" Keiichi nodded his head up and down and put a hand shyly behind him trying to apologize. "I'm Keiichi Morisato."

Lind just covered an eye with her hand in annoyance. "Yes I'm aware I read your file from Yggdrasil's database. " "_How the members of the GRO have the ability to go through this time and time again? On each wish they are sent out to grant and still be so bubbly is beyond me. It has not even been five minutes and already I feel like strangling him."_

"You have a file on me?" Keiichi asked with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

"Yggdrasil has files on all life on this planet not just yourself." Lind explained simply.

"_That's just a tad disturbing…" _Keiichi thought as he took in all this at once. Given the situation he suddenly was thrown in was taking it rather well. Too himself anyhow.

After having had enough time to become rational again Keiichi sat down and poured some tea for himself and his heavenly guest. Lind sat across from him at the table. Unknowingly she punched the floor in frustration. That left behind a considerable sized dent in the wood. Luckily Keiichi could not see this or he might panic again. "Have some tea." Keiichi said while placing the cup before Lind. "I've never had a girl over before so this is all I can offer you."

"That's not a huge surprise, what self respecting woman would want to visit you." Lind said flatly not even worried about offending him eyeing the tea suspiciously before deciding to take a sip.

"_Well you don't have to be that blunt about it. Well at least she's honest if nothing else but she could have worded it better." _Keiichi sighed as he set his tea down and held his head in his hands clearly upset by her comment.

"I did not think speaking the truth offend you so." Lind mentioned making a mental note to try to be so forward in the future with him. Obviously he was very sensitive about himself. "The tea is very good." She added trying to save some face with him.

"No…" Keiichi sighed again. "You are right. I am undesirable, I am shorter than most women, you included, my eyebrows are thick and I have a forgettable face, I am also very poor." Keiichi threw out onto the table what was left in his savings. Which total about 267 yen. "Also there this…"

Lind listened onto him for quite some time. He listed off the laundry list of reasons why girls would never date him, finishing her tea she realized something both Lind and him had in common.

"Then there's all these antiques, I can't even afford to…" Keiichi was interrupted by the sound of Lind pounding her tea cup down onto the table. The force of the hit was great enough to shatter the item still in her hands.

"Are you quite finished!" Lind almost shouted, ignoring the cuts on her hand that once held the tea cup. She took a moment to calm herself down before continuing. "All of that might be true but that is not your problem. It's not the things you listed that are the issue you need to overcome. Women can see past all of that very easily. Were not shallow and mindless drones like you seem to think. What you lack is self confidence; you are blinded by your faults. You are failing to see what is good about yourself." Lind finally noticed the injuries on her hand but for now did nothing about them. "I know this to be true because I am the same as you." To prove her point Lind made her left wing appear. Seeing this had a hypnotizing effect on Keiichi. Suddenly her claims seemed easier for him to believe. "I know this cause I think just like you do, I see now why I was asked this assignment by the Almighty." Keiichi looked confused and a bit nervous seeing her single wing. He reached out curiously to touch it but Lind slapped his hand away. "You see within Yggdrasil all the beings there are given a pair of wings. I however as you can see are the pariah of my peers. I was cursed with a single wing only. Because of this I joined one of heaven's battle divisions. I believe if I become strong enough I will be able to earn my second wing, so far however I have yet to obtain the strength I need to accomplish this." Lind looked away from Keiichi shamefully. "I am still too weak."

"I'm sorry… Is there anyway I can help you?" Keiichi said sounding truly sympathetic to her troubles.

"It's my burden. I don't know why I told you so much to be honest. I just wanted you to understand there are many others with the same problem you have, myself included." Lind took a moment to reflect on herself before continuing. "We've come off topic; you still need to make your wish." Lind said as she stood up and moved away from Keiichi before she became too emotional again.

"Are you sure you are not a part of some cult or something? Perhaps even a prank by the seniors. I wouldn't put it past them to do something like this."

Lind turned back around and pointed at Keiichi's tea cup and a blue ray struck the cup that originated from her index finger. Keiichi's cup was frozen solid almost immediately afterwards. "I can grant you any wish you want. I can give you more money then you could ever spend. If you even wanted you could wish for world destruction… however..." Lind pointed from the cup to him and the tip of her finger started to glow again. "…If you wish for that I will cut you down here and now before you get the chance to finish your sentence."

Keiichi leaned back and tried to shield himself with his arms. "I don't want that I swear! Don't freeze me!" Keiichi said almost in tears from the fear he once again found himself in.

Lind stared at him for a few moments before putting her hand down and the glow faded away. "I believe you. You don't seem like the type that could hurt a fly. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not though."

Keiichi thought hard about his wish, more specifically the confession she made to him. The more he thought about the more Lind seemed right in his mind about the two of being similar. He got a strong feeling he could learn a lot about himself from her. "I've decided."

"Well it's about time. Let me hear it already." Lind hurried him on facing him now, giving him her undivided attention. Last thing she wanted was to mess up her first wish she was asked to grant.

Keiichi scratched the back of his head. "I want a goddess with struggles like you… to always… stay by my side." Keiichi seemed relieved when right after nothing happened. "See this is nothing but a…" Keiichi stammered speech came to a halt as he noticed Lind stopped moving entirely and the circles on her forehead began to glow brightly. The lose objects within the room such as books and clothing went flying around in a circle following the wind within the room that appeared from nowhere. Lind lifted slightly off the ground as a beam shot from her. The force broke a hole in the roof and the light emanating from her continued on high into the darkening sky.

xxxxx

Just outside the dorm Tamiya and Otaki were so focused on fixing Keiichi's bike they completely ignored the light show that was going on behind them no more than a few feet away. Neither of them any the wiser of what was going on.

Once the light passed Lind began to fall. Keiichi in a desperate attempt to catch her crashed into a bookshelf ending up with Lind on top of him as though she were asleep.

Lind opened her eyes and found herself lying on top of Keiichi. The last thing she remembered was hearing his wish. "I'm using your phone." She said in a manner that was more of a statement then a question stepping on him as she walked over to his phone. "This is Lind speaking. The wish just sent up just now… What! That's allowed also! There must be some mistake! Well check it again then! I see… sorry to trouble you. Farewell."

"Something wrong?" Keiichi asked weakly knowing what exactly was being told to the Valkyrie. He secretly wondered if he could make it outside if she decided to attack him for his wish being granted.

Lind gently hung up the phone and looked at him crestfallen. "The wish has been granted… I'll be remaining here on earth from quite some time it would seem." Lind said a bit saddened.

"So my wish is going to come true, that's good… good to hear…" Keiichi's face quickly became distressed realizing the long term implications of this wish. "Ehhhh! They really granted my wish… for you to always stay with me?"

Lind nodded to him. "I'll be remaining here on earth." The sadness in her voice slightly more present than normal, though like any good warrior she would follow her orders and try to make the best of this situation she now found herself in.

"What?" Keiichi shouted loud enough for the entire dorm to hear.

"That means you'll be living with me then?" Lind nodded again to him. "There are days I go to college and I don't have any money, are you okay with being poor?"

"It is what it is. Believe me I have enough contempt for you making such a selfish wish, but what is done cannot be undone. We will both have to make the best we can of this unfortunate turn of events." Lind almost scolded.

"_By my side… A Valkyrie always by my side? I'm actually going to live under the same roof as a girl?" _Visions of Lind cooking meals for him while he confessed his feeling to her ran through his mind, followed by a vision of his first date with Lind. "_But she's a Valkyrie, what if villains appear with her around?"_ Another thought about Keiichi and Lind standing a top of a gang of thugs. Lind is hugging him as he laughed about his easy victory with her at his side.

"Get it out of your head Morisato!" Lind shouted as she punched him and sent him flying into a wall with a sickening thud. "I'm not some fragile handmaiden that you can win over with a few placed words or items! You would do well to remember that."

"Yes ma'am…" Keiichi said in pain, his right leg twitching slightly. "I guess you can read my mind also."

"Yes, I guess you're not as dumb as you first let on after all." Lind said folding her arms over her chest and turned her back to him to hide her face. Then she smiled a bit at her work on the mortal. "_Maybe this will not be so bad after all."_

"_I guess it is for real then. I'm going to live with a Valkyrie!_" Keiichi thought as he tried to fight through the pain and sit back upright. Just then it dawned on him this dorm didn't allow girls inside.

Otaki twirled a wrench a few times then hooked it back up on the inside of his jacket. "Well that should do it, don'tcha think?"

"All right, let's go" Tamiya told Otaki and the two went back inside of the dorm.

Xxxxx

From within the Yggdrasil central mainframe a sound alerted from one of the many screens. Chrono looked into it immediately. "Well that's interesting…" She said to herself.

"What is it?" The other goddesses plus Belldandy all asked at the same time and moved to better see what Chrono was reading. "It seems that a wish was just granted."

"That's not unusual at all. I grant wishes all the time." Belldandy mentioned while moving to sit back down in her usual spot. Ere and Ex fixated on the screens in front of them as well.

"Yes, I'm aware however this wish was granted by a Valkyrie and even more unusual the call was sent to your phone Belldandy." Chrono informed while turning around to face Belldandy.

"Why would a Valkyrie take a call that was supposed to be mine…? What Valkyrie was sent?" Belldandy asked getting very curious.

"Just one moment please." Chrono looked through the records of recent wishes. "It seems Lind was sent out to grant the wish.

"That's not good. I need to go to the one who was getting the wish." Belldandy declared with some urgency and a bit of fear in her voice. It was well known that within even the Valkyries Lind was known for her extreme violence and she had both the physical and magical strength to back those rumors up easily. All the goddesses present had a scary image in their minds of what might happen if he got to Lind's bad side. Her power was so high that some even believed that if she was not so violent with her abilities she had a good chance of being the next almighty. Should something ever unfortunate happen to the current one she had a possibility. The rumors about Lind may be baseless theories but she was definitely not the best person to send to a mortal. Especially one as hot tempered as Lind.

"The one who made the wish was a mortal from the Earth realm. His name is Keiichi Morisato." Ere chipped into the conversation.

"I'll help you with those doors Chrono. Just give me a moment to see what you've…" Ex speech was cut off by the sound of the doors unlocking and opening again. "…Started."

"You did very well. Thank you everyone." Belldandy said quickly as she went outside and back towards the Goddess Relief Office to follow Lind to Earth.

"Say how did you manage to get the doors open anyways Ex. Nothing I tried seemed to work." Chrono asked her college across from her.

Ex looked back at Chrono and shrugged her shoulders." It wasn't me. The doors just unlocked and opened themselves."

Chrono and Ex stared at the doors for a moment, but decided it was nothing except a bug in the system and went back to work as normal.

Xxxxx

"Oh my gosh, this is terrible. If the seniors find out about this…" Keiichi shouted. This caught Lind's attention from the nervousness in his words so she turned an eye towards him signaling her attention.

"What is it now Morisato. You're not backing out of your wish now are you?" Lind asked angry and getting close in his face, trying to intimidate as much as she could. She may be here on his wish but she wanted him to understand that she would be calling the shots in this agreement of theirs otherwise.

Keiichi was sweating bullets as he backed from Lind, with no success. It just made her seem bigger and more threatening in his mind. "I-It's not like that I swear!" He, in a panicked manner; explained. Keiichi scratched the back of his head and tried to laugh this next statement off. "Woman are not allowed in the dorm!"

"Well that shouldn't be a problem." Lind flicked her hair in an exaggerated manner. "I'm a Valkyrie after all." Lind concluded in a sarcastic manner. She clearly having a fun time taunting him while he was in a vulnerable position. "Surely they will understand if I explain that to them." Lind grinned a bit at this seeing Keiichi start to panic even more.

"That's not going to matter! The seniors will not believe you really are a Valkyrie. Even I am still getting to accept it to be true still! How can they. I need you to get out of this room!" Keiichi shouted pacing back and forth, grabbing at his hair. Lind stood there staring, her eyes only moving to follow his movements up and down the small apartment.

"I'm sure I can convince them." Lind said as she made a pole axe appear within her hands and held it in front if herself firmly. "You see, much more convincing now don't you agree?" Lind asked. Keiichi was unable to tell if she was serious or not. Right now did not want to take a chance on it. From outside the room Lind and Keiichi could hear the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. Lind got ready to use that large axe of hers.

"No! No! No! Don't hurt them Lind! They are no threat to you, only just very annoying with their unusual rules. There will be trouble but nothing that needs THAT!" Keiichi tried to whisper while pointing to her axe. Lind, somewhat disappointed made the axe disappear, back to where ever it was that it came from originally.

"Well we can't be separated the system force will not allow it and as much as it pains me to say neither will I. It's my mission to grant you your wish. I just didn't realize it would be so long termed." Keiichi looked curiously at Lind when she me mentioned the system force. "When you stare at me blankly like that, I get this overwhelming urge to slap you…" Lind told him straightly.

"Well what is the system force then? I'm new to this don't forget?" Keiichi pleaded with her, hoping he would not get slapped. Keiichi still feeling the stinging effect from the time she punched him into a wall.

"The system force is a power Yggdrasil has that will act when outside force or people prevent me from completing me wish. The bigger the threat to my wish the more dramatically the system force will respond to the person or object. That was what I was told while waiting for you to call me anyhow." Lind explained to Keiichi. From outside the sounds of the footsteps became louder with each passing second, Keiichi knew he was about to get some unwanted guests in a few seconds.

"The system force… Will it hurt people?" Lind just shrugged to the question. From outside the room both Lind and Keiichi could hear the footsteps shuffling across the hardwood floor.

"It is a possibility, I don't know all the details because this is the first time I've taken on a job for the GRO. However it's not something we should test to find out. It could end badly for those and possibly even you." Lind answered looking towards the door to Keiichi's room.

"I need to get you out of here!" Keiichi said trying to shove Lind to the small closet to no effect. He could not even get her to budge slightly. Lind made a curious face as Keiichi strained himself trying. It looked almost as if he was trying to kiss Lind. When his face got to close for her liking she grabbed him by the forehead and pushed it away. That got his face away but he still tried to push her with his own weight and strength, still failing horribly as Tamiya and Otaki entered the room and saw the scene unfolding before the two of them.

"Morisato!" Tamiya shouted seeing both Lind and Keiichi in the room together alone in an unusual situation.

From behind Tamiya, Otaki came into sight to see better Keiichi and Lind also. "Morisato! You little bastard! How dare you sneak a woman into our male only sanctuary then try to force yourself onto her!"

Lind huffed at that comment and grabbed Keiichi's arm and tossed him over her back then stepped on his chest with her right foot. "You have some nerve. As if this fool could force himself upon me. He got that close only because I allowed it!" Lind barked at the two new guests in the room. Both Tamiya and Otaki blushed a bit seeing Keiichi being put into submission so easily. It reminded the two of Chihiro in a way.

The two seniors brushed off the nostalgic thoughts. "I trust you're prepared to face the music for this."

"B-but… there are these circumstances…" Keiichi tried to explain still being pinned to the floor by Lind's foot. Like before he couldn't seem to get her to move her foot off him no matter how hard he tried to resist the Valkyrie.

"He who dares break the dorm rules… Get thrown out!" several of the dorm members shouted in unison.

"It's human mikoshi time! Carry them out men!" Otaki shouted as the dorm inhabitants rushed the room. Several people Keiichi didn't know lifted him off the ground. Otaki and Tamiya made their way to Lind. She watched as the mob lifted Keiichi above them and then gave the two motor club directors a look that shouted "_just try it!" _Valuing their health and body parts, the two silently agreed to let her follow Keiichi out of her own free will. Another member of the mob however was less perceptive of Lind's face. He made the mistake of trying to pick her up. She grabbed his wrist and twisted it around and behind his back then wrapped a leg around his and leaned him back and slammed him down onto the ground rather violently. A decent human shaped mold within the floor below was created from the impact. "Serves ya right for trying to grab the lady!" Both Tamiya and Otaki taunted at their fallen comrade in between laughs.

The group held Keiichi above them, leading him out to the hallway. With each step they lowered and raised him slightly. "Wasshoi, Wasshoi, Wasshoi, Wasshoi." The group shouted like a mantra with every other step as they neared closer and closer to the door. Lind following behind looking completely bored and uninterested with the situation Keiichi found himself in. As far as Lind cared it was his karma for making such a selfish wish on her. Making it to the door the group unceremoniously dropped Keiichi on his butt and the group made a hole allowing Lind to let herself out of the building. Once she was on the curb with him Tamiya slammed the door shut behind her.

Keiichi just laid there on the side of the road, feeling broken and defeated. In a matter of seconds he went from having to an apartment to just the jacket he managed to grab as he was being thrown out of his home by the seniors. A gust of wind blew by and all that was needed to complete how Keiichi felt was a tumble weed to bounce through. It would be like those in those low budget movies starred by actors no one ever heard of before. "Uhhh…" Keiichi moaned, tears in his eyes and feeling too pitiful to move currently. "Why am I not surprised?" He asked both himself and Lind.

Lind just stood there and looked down at him. Even she felt sorry for him some. Not that he got thrown out but that he didn't even try to stand up for himself."That was pitiful Morisato we could have taken them. Why just let them throw you out of your home? Justice was on your side, and with me on your side also it would be a quick victory." She asked curiously confused why he didn't let her fight them, a part of her itching for a good skirmish to relieve some of the stress she found herself in by having to live with him forever.

"Now you tell me you're on my side… I guess what they say about better late than never is false, that's just my luck." Keiichi said as he got up off the street and brushed himself off. Lind at least was kind enough to pick his jacket off and whack it clean before tossing it to him.

"It's over and done with Morisato. Besides it was your home not mine. You need to be the first to stand up. If you can't do that for yourself don't expect other too either. There's no point in dwelling on it now though. Next time I'll follow your lead how about that? So pick up your feet up and let's move forward. It's dark and you need a place to stay that should be the most important thing right now."

Keiichi started walking towards his bike, still moving as if he was broken down. Besides him Lind just floated besides him. "I get it now that was the system force that kicked in when I tried to separate us and made me get thrown out by the seniors."

"That would be an accurate assessment of the event moments ago yes. But that is only the very minimum that makes up the powers of the system force. I can't go into more detail. If we ever meet a GRO worker that person could explain better, as I stated before." Lind informed Keiichi.

The two stopped in front of Keiichi's bike and Lind set down onto the ground. Lind looked the item over curiously, occasionally tapping a part of it with her foot, nearly knocking the ride over on its side. "There's a problem though, my bike has been acting up lately." Keiichi declared and Lind raised an eyebrow at his comment. Keiichi dug into his pockets while talking. "Now where did I leave the keys to my bike?"

Lind noticed something moving through the air towards Keiichi and herself. She quickly moved herself in front of Keiichi in a protective manner and caught the object flying towards her. Opening her hands revealed a key. Unsure what to do with it she gave it to Keiichi.

"Morisato!" Tamiya called out from within Keiichi's room in the dorm.

"It's your reward for holding down the fort! We fixed the bike for you!" Otaki told the two as he lowered a box down to the ground.

Behind him Tamiya was crying into the band of his arm. A poor attempt to hide the fact he was crying if the sounds he was making was not proof enough. "T-this is a new chapter in your life! S-so were sending you off in s-style!" The larger of the two directors said in between snuffles.

"Yeah!" a group cheered from further within the room beyond Keiichi was able to see.

"We'll send you the rest of your stuff as soon as you find a new place, got that?" Tamiya continued as he broke down even further into tears. Then moving out of sight from Keiichi and Lind, not that it wasn't obvious why he was hiding.

"They are not as bad as I first thought they were." Lind thought aloud as she watched Keiichi get onto the bike. Lind back flipped a couple of times then jumped up into the air and landed neatly into the side car attached to the bike. "I've always have wondered how mortals of this realm get around since you all cannot fly like we can."

"You don't have to show off so much." Keiichi gloomily started up the bike. The engine sounding like it was once again in good repair. Lind from the side car seemed mildly interested in how the ride worked but let it go for now. "Well… let's go find us a place to stay for the night until I can think of a more permanent solution for us."

"Sounds like a well thought out battle plan Morisato." Lind told as warmly as her closed off personality would allow, which didn't seem all that much of an improvement from when she spoke normally.

Keiichi smiled a bit nervously. "Ummm… can you call me Keiichi-san or something instead of just Morisato all of the time. It's too formal and makes me feel uneasy."

"I was ordered to give you only a single wish…" Keiichi seemed disappointed and was about to drive off when Lind continued. "However in this case I think an exception will be allowed by the higher ups Keiichi-s-san."

Keiichi smiled back at Lind being called that by her. "Well then, let's hit the road!"

Lind nodded at Keiichi and looked forward as he started to drive off. "_Such a trivial thing as what I call him makes him smile. I can't understand it." _Lind looked at herself in the mirror to her right and tried a few times to smile herself. She couldn't seem to manage it, giving it up before Keiichi noticed her making strange faces at herself in the mirror.

Keiichi and Lind drove down the street soon out of sight and sound range of Tamiya and Otaki as the two stood there silently as they secretly saw Keiichi off. "Well he's gone now." Otaki said in a stoic manner. Tamiya to his right nodded his head mumbling his agreements. "A man's not a man until he sets off on a journey like this, right?" Otaki finished and once again Tamiya agreed. The two of them looked up into the sky and laughed together about the dramatic little scene the two privately made themselves.

Xxxxx

Belldandy stepped down on a platform that she spent more of her time in then any other, the GRO. Inside it Belldandy observed that several of the goddesses cages seem rattled. They were on edge about sometime that must have occurred not long ago. "What's going on here? Is this about the silver wing that came here not long ago?" Belldandy asked while moving to the phone designated for her. She could feel the tense energy that filled the room. The two goddesses nearby both nodded and explained to Belldandy what occurred while she was away. In return Belldandy told her story about being locked away within Yggdrasil's mainframe room.

"Well this whole event has us a bit on edge as I'm sure you've noticed by now Belldandy. It's not every day a Valkyrie of all types to get a call. We all think you should go and help the silver wing out. She might need your help with the mortal she went to see. It's been several hours since she left and still she has yet to return to us. It's only making us worry more then we already should be." A goddess from behind Belldandy said.

Belldandy turned around and nodded to the one that spoke, deciding not to tell the others the Valkyrie had already made a wish. This only motivated Belldandy even more to find out what happened on earth. So she dived into the mirror besides her phone and on her way to the earth realm, determined to find the mortal Belldandy felt was she supposed to get a wish from. A spark of jealously ran through her and a lot of frustration that another was given the wish. So secretly none the less was like pour salt in the wound. "I'll return as soon as I can." Belldandy made her goodbyes in her usual warm and cheery voice as she disappeared into completely into the mirror besides her phone.

"Say… does anyone else find it aggravating that even when Belldandy misses a call to another goddess she still gets to go all the same?" One goddess called out randomly.

"Yes." All the other goddesses currently present at the time nodded also. Every single person around cried a bit inside from their misfortune in this situation. Once again the girls are forced to stay waiting for a call that may take weeks or months to arrive for them. Each hoping if Belldandy was away, work for the others will pick up.

Xxxxx

Inside Keiichi's former dorm room Tamiya and Otaki were hard at work packing up Keiichi's personal items. A brilliant light from within the room made the two drop what they were doing. When they were able to see once again, Belldandy was present with the two seniors. "Hello. It's nice to meet you two." Belldandy greeted the two, smiling and her eyes closed. Showing she trusted in the two before her. Looking around she touched her lip with her index finger, looking cute and confused. "Do you know where I can find Morisato-sama?" Belldandy asked the two seniors. The two looked at her with shock before they both jumped to their own conclusions. As they always seem to do with all things not related to cars.

"Morisato! You two timing bastard!" Tamiya shouted loud enough the neighboring buildings inhabitants were awoken and turned their lights on too see what going on outside. "Karma will punish you for being unfaithful!" Convinced she could not get anything out of the two with her Belldandy closed her eyes and focused intently on something. Then snapped back to life and jumped through the hole in the roof followed by another flash of light. When Tamiya and Otaki looked around outside, there was no signs of her hitting the ground.

"Will you two keep it down, I'm trying to sleep!" Someone from across the street shouted before closing his window and the curtains after that. The two ran back side before getting into even more trouble. They had had enough at the institute. Both forgot about Belldandy supernatural entrance and exit entirely.

Xxxxx

Keiichi stopped at an apartment building at another part of Nekomi. Lind followed Keiichi to the apartment he stopped at as he knocked at the door. "Can we crash at your place?" Keiichi pleaded with the ones inside the room and the one who greeted Keiichi agreed reluctantly.

"Do you know these people?" Lind questioned. She feeling dishonored having to beg for a place to stay among people she had no connection to. At least if Keiichi did it would put her a bit more at ease.

Keiichi nodded to her. "They are friends of mine. We attend class together at the institute."

"Please, come on inside." The man who greeted Keiichi moved to let the two in.

Lind followed Keiichi in and noticed the unusual stares the man at the door, plus the other two sitting in front of a table with mahjong tiles scattered about. All of them were looking at Lind oddly. "What is it?" Lind demanded getting close the stranger at the door. A bit of viciousness rang in her voice. She didn't be appreciated being stared in such a manner.

"I-I-Its nothing! I just never seen someone dress like you is all." He explained while holding his hands up in fear. Lind backed off then and went to stand beside Keiichi at the mahjong table. The student sighed in relief then smiled wickedly after seeing his other two friends nod at him knowingly.

Lind, with her sharp goddess enhanced eyes was able to notice the very slight change in their faces. Also the bad energy she could sense from them put her on edge once again. For now she did nothing but watch the students play.

The tiles were shuffled and handed out. Each person got their tiles, played and showed their tiles. Keiichi won the first round. Then the second and the other three were starting to sweat the money they were losing. The three huddled together and whispered to one another.

"We're getting our butts kicked here." The one on the left whispered to the student in the center.

"Don't worry this guy's easy pickings. Just let him think he's winning for a little while longer, before we clean him out." The center student answered, he seemed the leader of their little pack.

The student on the right leaned in also. "You said it, that Morisato's got a lot of nerve. Let's rob him for all he's got in front of his girl!" The three snickered to this and separated again.

For the next several hands Keiichi won. Each hand was only small amounts about 60 yen per hand. "You're a real shark at the tiles." The one directly across the table moaned. "This is getting boring though, how about we make this real interesting, I'll wager my entire music collection…" he pointed to the large stack of CD cases in the corner "…for the keys to your bike. What do you say?"

"We accept your terms." Lind declared next to Keiichi calm yet boldly. The table all smiled knowingly towards Lind.

"EHHHH! Are you crazy Lind! I can't risk my bike! If I lose that then how will I get around town." Lind looked down at him seriously.

"Didn't you want me to help you gain self confidence? This is a step towards that. Now play the game." Lind told firmly.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Keiichi complained but took his tiles anyways. As the tiles were being handed out Lind observed and noticed two of the students cheat at the game when Keiichi was organizing his own tiles. Lind looked around and noticed the one in the center could see all other players' hands by the placement of the mirrors and was signaling for his friends to give him specific tiles when Keiichi was distracted.

Naturally because of this when everyone revealed their hands Keiichi lost horribly and the guy across the table laughed. "A deal is a deal Morisato. Now hand over your bike key please." With a face full of tears Keiichi nodded and went into his coat pocket to get the keys. As he was about to toss them to the student Lind grabbed his closed hand with her own and shook her head no. "What the meaning of this! We won, so hand them over!"

"Yeah, don't cheat him out. He won fair and square now cough them up." The one on the right of Keiichi told.

Lind just laughed at that, the others minus Keiichi and Lind herself getting a bit nervous. "Fair? Hardly, I caught you all exchanging tiles and…" Lind pointed with her thumb to the mirror behind her. "You've been using the mirrors to take sneak peeks at his hand all night long. You can't pull one over on me."

"Why you little wench!" The student on the left shouted and stood up threateningly to Keiichi. He was clearly looking for a fight. Lind, being in a giving mood smiled and placed her hands on Keiichi's shoulders and used them as a ground to flip over him. She landed onto the table and with a single kick to the face laid him out for the count. She smiled as the student behind her and to the right of Keiichi tried to trip her. She could sense the attack coming, and jumped backwards over him. She landed behind the one who tried to trip her.

"Only the cowardly attack from behind." Lind whispered to him as she grabbed by the back of his head. The student directly across from Keiichi tried to help his buddy by punching at Lind. The Valkyrie quickly moved his buddy's face in front of where his fist was traveling. This caused him to punch his friend directly in the nose. Lind then followed that up by slamming the face of the now injured person into the table. The impact was hard enough to make the tiles on the table jump, and his body to bounce backwards onto his back. He was also down, not to get up anytime soon. The one in the center just looked panicked as a white gloved fist came looked larger and larger. He too joined his two other friends.

"Well that was hardly a challenge. I could do that in my sleep." Lind yawned as she stretched her arms above her and walked out the front door. Keiichi sat there in shock. Not sure what to make of what just happened. "Coming Keiichi-san!" Lind called out from outside. Keiichi got outside and noticed Lind was sitting in the side car already from being four stories up."

"How did you get down there so fast?" Keiichi asked as he started to drive out of the parking lot.

"I flew down obviously." Lind told him plainly.

"I should have guessed as much, you being a Valkyrie and all." Keiichi thought as he drove off. "_I'm getting use to this a little too fast._" Keiichi thought to himself, noticing that he didn't even bother questioning the super natural feats Lind was capable of performing anymore.

Xxxxx

Keiichi and Lind arrived to a private residence and knocked on the door. A half asleep Sora Hasegawa answered the door and saw Keiichi. Immediately she shut the door seeing him. She did not want to be a part of whatever schemes the motor club might be plotting. She barely was tolerant of the hair brained antics when awake and refreshed. Here, now in the dead of night she was in absolutely no mood for it.

"Listen I need a favor." Keiichi pleaded as she shut the door in his face. "Ahh! Hasegawa! At least hear me out will you?" Reluctantly Sora opened the door again for him. "Could you at least put her up, just for tonight?" Keiichi moved to let Sora see Lind.

"You come to my door at this late hour, and it's a favor like that?" Sora almost whispered to him being so tired. Lind moved closer and tried to be as kind as possible. That only made Lind seem strange to Sora.

"Please, Hasegawa!" Keiichi begged. He went on his hands and knees to show his sincerity.

"I have no choice, but only your woman friend." Sora opened the door to let Lind in.

"That's fine! I can crash somewhere…"

"I refuse!" Lind told aloud. Keiichi looked up at Lind confused. "Keiichi-san may be completely unreliable at times…"Keiichi looked on annoyed and embarrassed by Lind's description of him. "…But only scum willingly abandons their friends in a time of need. I won't stay here unless she accepts you also Keiichi-san. I will not share space with people such as her."

Sora, being too tired to argue or stand there and be insulted from a complete stranger shut the door. "Have it your way then!" She told the two outside in a moody nature.

Lind made her pole axe appear in her hands and moved to chop the door to pieces. "Why you little…" Keiichi moved in front of the door to stop her.

"Let it go Lind. It's not worth it." Keiichi told solemnly as he walked back to his bike and got back on it and started the engine.

Lind lowered her axe and looked at Keiichi on the bike. She sighed and sat down inside the side car. "Why would you defend her from me?" Lind asked, not understanding his reasoning.

"She is still my friend. I always will try looking out for them, even when they cannot for do the same for me." Keiichi told her.

Lind looked forward and thought to herself. "_Maybe Keiichi is more of a man than he first let on. There might be some hope for him after all._" "So where are we going to now then Keiichi-san?"

"To the Nekomi Institute of Technology. I am hoping that the auto club might be unlocked. We might be able to sleep there for the night, or one of the cars in the lot near it we are working on. The owners give us the keys to the cars they bring us while we work on them." Keiichi told focusing intently on the road. With fatigue setting in from such a long and dramatic night this was becoming increasingly difficult for him.

Xxxxx

Belldandy arrived at the large apartment building Lind and Keiichi stopped by earlier. Being able to sense where Lind went by following her aura trail because of the large amount of magical power Lind possessed. Wherever she went it left a trail. She followed her trail to an opened apartment room. Inside the room Belldandy could tell Lind was in this room for quite some time. Her aura was laced all over the place. Looking around she could tell a fight also occurred inside the room. Mahjong tiles scattered about the floor and lying around the room were three unconscious students. "Oh my…" Belldandy used her magic to heal the three injured students. As the three students began to wake, Belldandy left to continue to following Lind's trail. She jumped from roof to roof. She occasional looked down at the street below her for the trail to see where it will lead her.

Xxxxx

Lind and Keiichi came out of a tunnel and arrived at the front gates into NIT. Occasionally seeing some parts of the road towards the club he used to chase his victim earlier in the day. He never believed he would be back this late at night, or perhaps now early in the next morning. Doing so with a Valkyrie no less. The two arrived at the clubhouse. Lind jumped out as the bike slowed down. "So this is where you go to learn?" Lind asked as she spun around slowly, surveying the entire area for herself.

"This is only one section of the campus actually." Keiichi told her as he shook the door handle for the club house. Then he tried to pull the door off to no success. "I can't get in here…" Keiichi mumbled feeling defeated once again today.

"Need some help Keiichi-san?" Lind asked, looking somewhat happy still about her little fight before. For a Valkyrie fighting was the greatest joy to them. It was drilled into their personality as a part of the training they go through. Each and every Valkyrie loves to fight to varying degrees. Lind was among the ones who found it the most enjoyable. This gave Lind her reputation as a goddess of extreme violence, even among the Valkyries.

"No, we don't need to get the seniors mad by breaking down the door." Lind nodded and went back to looking all around. "Is something the matter Lind?"

Lind, still looking around answered. "No, I am well. It's just… well… the last time I was on earth… it wasn't as pretty of a place as it is now. I want to take in the sights since I find myself here again." Keiichi stared at Lind kind of sympathetically as if he wanted ask her about this. His fears of her ultimately stopped him. "You are staring again." Lind scolded, snapping Keiichi out of his thoughts.

"Ah sorry… If you'd like I can give you a tour of the campus sometime. During the day it is lively and lots of fun to hang out."

Lind looked at the large center building, curious to see what it was like inside during the day. "I'd like that. For now though we need a place to sleep."

Keiichi looked around and found a car unlocked. Keiichi waved Lind over and the two sat inside of the car. Each in a seat, Keiichi took the driver's position. He leaned back and looked up at the night's sky. Lind merely just brought her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, then closed her eyes. "Do you normally sleep like that Lind?" He asked turning to look at her trying to suppress his blushing. It would the first time he would be sleeping so close to a girl since living with his family in Hokkaido. That didn't really have the same pressure in him as this. He sat wondering about all that happened today. "_Would anyone believe the position I found myself in? It's like something straight of a fiction story. Still she is very beautiful, even if she has a rough personality."_

"Keiichi-san?" Lind called out, her eyes still closed. "We will be living together from now on. At first the idea repulsed me, but I hope you and I can have a lot of adventures here on Earth. I'll probably be considered a retired Valkyrie… but I hope our time together can still be just as exhilarating."

Keiichi blushed even more and panicked. He took his coat off and throwing it over Lind, making her open her eyes, only long enough to see what was on her. "You must have had a long day! I'll stay up too keep watch so you can sleep." Keiichi said turning his back to Lind until he felt the jacket being placed back on him. He turned to see Lind leaning over towards him. This making his entire face beet red, it was almost as if he was a tomato.

"You sleep Keiichi-san. I'll keep watch. It's not anything I'm not trained for." Lind said curling up into her figure she was a few moments ago with her eyes closed again.

"_How can she be a look out if she has her eyes closed?" _ Keiichi thought to himself as he lay back down again.

"You rely on your eyes too much." Lind whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

Keiichi smiled "I forgot you can read my mind." Keiichi smiled, closing his eyes and falling asleep peacefully. He was trusting in Lind to keep him safe.

xxxxx

Author thanks:

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

Andrea Ye, tripod762, Kaiser696, GraysonPaladin, Henni, BrazeRancor, 141fanficfan

For those who liked my story enough to put it on alert.

2remember, dbfox007, Orous, Ravenchist Zero, TFahey2, sourdough-AK, Kaiser696, GraysonPaladin, BrazeRancor, luis3007

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

TFahey2, jjmmaa, Akasui, Kaiser696, Henni, Fox-and-Cat-Shinobi

Last but definitely not least thanks to the following for adding me to author alert.

141fanficfan


	3. Ah! The cost of bitter memories!

Author notes:

First off I want to give a special thanks to my two beta readers I found since the last update. mjnousak and another who, for the time being; rather keep his name hidden so I dubb thee "Bob". You both gave me many ideas to help improve the chapter. You guys rock, I love you both.

I corrected some minor errors in chapter 2 also so ignore the first update email if my minions... I mean followers got another... again.

Some questions I got about my story I'd like to answer.

First off Lind can lie, in my story anyhow. She has a unlimited, **unrestricted** lisence unlike Belldandy.

Second for those wondering how far Keiichi and Lind's relation will go in the future. It will be all the way, as much as Bell and Keiichi have in the canon that is, maybe more. Have not decided yet.

Lastly I know Lind is out of character. Many have said this and I have my reasons, they will be known later. Also know Lind was not sent to earth for Keiichi to help her get Coolmint. There are other reasons that will begin to reveal themselves in this chapter and more so as the story continues.

* * *

Keiichi woke up in the car to find himself alone. Looking around there was no signs of Lind anywhere. "Well, that ended a lot sooner than I thought." Keiichi thought to himself feeling saddened by this turn of events. The two had had a rough start but a small part of him liked the idea of having her around. Ordinary lives are boring and overrated he began to think.

He went over to the nearest fountain and washed his face to help wake up. "I still need to find a new place to stay…" As he stood back finished with the water he heard someone hit the ground a short distance behind him. It sounded almost as if someone had hopped behind him. Startled he turned around to find Lind looking at him with a slight frown. He took a quick step back and ended up sitting on the ground with more force than Lind's landing. "You scared me Lind. Must you always move around so" he reigned in the expletive "quietly?" Her mouth quirked at the missing word.

"It's who I am." Lind shrugged it off. "You'll get use to it eventually." She told while she helped him off the ground.

"What happened to watching over me, even on campus it can become dangerous. What if someone found me sleeping and tried to rob me or something?" Keiichi almost scolded.

"Your only possession you have currently is your bike keys and the clothes on your back. Hardly spoils worth the risk. Besides I would know if you were in trouble and would have returned immediately." Lind snapped back. "I found you easy enough this morning, even after you left the car, so calm down."

"How did you find me anyways? I walked some distance away from the clubhouse." Keiichi asked while patting himself down. He wondered if Lind had some GPS like item placed on him secretly.

"I have my own ways, none that involve human technology either so stop that already. People are staring." Lind told nodded her head to the right. Keiichi looked around in that direction to see various students staring on at the duo as they went to whatever class they needed to be at. A few students commenting on Lind's clothing but a majority about Keiichi searching himself.

"Are you sure they are not talking about your clothing? Or maybe they think you're dating me." Keiichi teased Lind while laughing a bit. The Valkyrie huffed at that as he walked past, she silently moved the direction of her foot and he tripped over her. He hit the concrete ground face first.

"Whoops. Sorry about that." Lind lied as she walked off in the direction Keiichi was heading before he fell over. "Come along Keiichi-san. You don't want to be late for class now do you?"

"_Maybe I was wrong about her staying was a good thing after all." _Keiichi thought looking up to see Lind walking towards the nearest building.

"I heard that!" Lind shouted, not looking back and continuing her normal pace. Keiichi just let his head hit the cement again comically before rushing to catch up to her.

Xxxxx

Keiichi went to his normal classes as if it were a normal day. Looking out the window to his right he saw Lind standing on top of an electric pole. She was staring within the classroom, specifically at Keiichi. He found it hard to concentrate knowing she was watching him. Normally he would be flattered a girl was so devoted to him. This however was a bit much, even for Keiichi.

"Something wrong Morisato?" The professor asked getting Keiichi's attention.

Ahhh… No. It's nothing." Keiichi told while scratching the back of his head.

"Well pay attention then, your grades are slipping and you don't have time to be daydreaming. "

Keiichi sighed and was trying to focus on class when a light reflected into his eyes for just a moment. Looking around the light reflection was getting the attention of a few students. Looking out the window Lind was still atop of the pole. Now however, she was performing exercises with her poleaxe, the sunlight is constantly bouncing off of her finely polished weapon and into the classroom. "_She's going to be seen for sure!" _Keiichi worried as several students began looking around also noticing the reflection. One student looked out the window while being blinded by the light reflection. This made Keiichi panic. When the student opened his eyes again he looked out the window and acted normally. Keiichi also looked and saw Lind had vanished from the pole. "That was a close one." Keiichi sighed with relief.

"Perhaps you could explain to the rest of the class what you're referring to Morisato?" The professor asked.

"Ah! Sorry again." Keiichi apologized as the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. The professor sent him a hard look. Keiichi could not get out of the classroom fast enough to escape his wrath. Outside the classroom Lind waited for him by the door. "How did you get to here so fast from…?" Keiichi noticed an opened window at the end of the hall. "…Never mind I think I know. Let's go off campus. I don't think I could handle another class like that again today. We might as well go looking for a new apartment for us." Lind nodded and followed him outside.

Xxxxx

Keiichi sat down on a bench outside. Lind joined him at the opposite end. "I want the two of us to live in a place with two rooms but I have to find one that is the same price as my dorm. Explaining the situation to the people back at home would be a bit of a pain. Since, I'm poor I'll have to work more."

"The people back at home?" Lind wondered raising an eyebrow slightly.

"My parents back at home send me money for a place to live. I doubt they would believe that I am living with a girl. This is especially from my annoying little sister, Megumi." He could hear her laughing hysterically over the phone if he broke the news to her. This put him in a bit of a sour mood.

"This is a difficult world to live in without money. In heaven there is no form of currency. When someone needs something, others assist without hoping for something in return. This is indeed a difficult world to be living in." Lind explained. Keiichi felt a bit envious of her situation.

"Yes…" Keiichi looked forward towards the people as they passed by while Lind looked towards him, listening intently. "You can neither live nor eat and it means you can't start anything."

"I see." Lind thought of the situation Keiichi was in while also watching the people pass by. "Humans really are extraordinary, you all seem so happy despite being under such pressure all the time. I wonder how you all can manage this worrying feeling all the time. It makes having just a single wing a petty desire in comparison."

"It's not as hard as you make it seem really." Keiichi got up and his stomach growled. "Money sometimes can be somewhat troublesome, especially when hungry." Keiichi tried to laugh off his embarrassing moment. Lind however was no longer interested in what he was saying. She was staring off into the distance. Keiichi looked where she was staring but couldn't see anything. "Is something wrong Lind?" She just continued to search far off into the distance. He waved his hands in front of her eyes.

She snapped out her trance and looked to Keiichi. "Wait here Keiichi-san." Lind told him firmly. Before Keiichi had a chance to form a reply Lind had disappeared.

Xxxxx

From several miles away Belldandy was monitoring the two, wondering why Lind was still on Earth with him. She was wondering why Lind had not returned to Yggdrasil yet. "Something I can help you with?" A voice asked from behind. Belldandy turned around to see an angry looking Lind holding her poleaxe loosely at her side. "Did you really think you could mask your presence from me? I've known you've been watching me since Keiichi and I stopped in the car for the night. What do you want?"

"Lind… I'd like you to return to Yggdrasil. You're a silver wing; you should be attending other matters. Leave Morisato-sama's wish to me." Belldandy tried to explain. "This is a job for someone at the GRO."

Lind sighed and made her poleaxe disappear. "I can't do that." Belldandy looked confused as Lind sighed. "Keiichi has made his wish already. He wants me to stay with him forever; that is why I am still here." She paused "More importantly the Almighty himself recommended that I take this wish of his and I rather think I had better see it through to the end."

Belldandy knew that if the Almighty made a suggestion it was in the person's best interest to agree to follow his advice. "I see… let me help you then. I am a GRO member. I have a lot of experience in dealing with these matters."

Lind thought it over for a moment. "Fine… but I call the shots to this and don't forget this is MY wish. I'm the one he wants around. Understand?" Belldandy nodded. Lind thought this was just going to be more trouble for both her and Keiichi however Lind knew she was right about one thing. Belldandy could prove herself useful in helping her with Keiichi's wish. Plus, two goddesses were better than one. "Try to keep up." Lind ran her thumb across one of the yellow stripes on her Valkyrie uniform on her arm near her shoulder. The entire uniform began to glow a dim yellowish color. Lind then seemed to disappear in a burst of speed.

Lind returned to Keiichi and her uniform returned to normal. "Welcome back Lind. Where did you go to though?" Keiichi asked, a mirror within a barber shop glowed. Keiichi saw Belldandy appear out of it and he suddenly got a bad feeling.

"I just went to greet a colleague from Yggdrassil." Lind explained as Belldandy floated to the two of them from across the street. A part of Lind satisfied she got back to Keiichi before Belldandy could. "Meet Goddess first class, second category, unlimited license Belldandy."

Belldandy smiled warmly and bowed to Keiichi. "It is a pleasure to meet you Morisato-sama." Keiichi blushed and rubbed the back of his head. Lind found this getting under her skin that those two seem to hit it off so well at first.

"Belldandy is here to act as support for me since I normally do not grant wishes. She is from the GRO and she has some knowledge in these matters." Lind explained to Keiichi.

Keiichi's stomach growled again and blushed in embarrassment. "That is very kind of her but I don't know how I'm going to support her, you and I Lind. Three people are just too much for me."

"Perhaps I can be of some help Morisato-sama." Belldandy told as she stepped forward.

"Please just call me Keiichi or something. You're a goddess also, it doesn't feel right for you to call me that." Keiichi told her, the same as he had done with Lind. This made Lind again that she was being replaced by the GRO worker.

"Very well then, Keiichi-san." Belldandy closed her eyes and held her hands together in front of herself. "There's a wanderer here. If you can hear my voice, then provide him with what he needs to survive." Belldandy said then laughed innocently.

"What was that?" Keiichi asked Lind.

"It's an incantation. Many goddesses know magic of that variety." Lind explained.

"Why couldn't you do that then?" Keiichi asked innocently.

Lind looked away ashamed. "I was never taught incantations. It requires you to remain still and very focused. My magic is fast acting, more combat related."

"I see, well its good Belldandy is here then." Keiichi smiled at her then turned towards Belldandy who smiled back at him.

Lind tightened her hands into fists, the fabric of her gloves straining under the pressure of her own grip. Lind was already having second thoughts about allowing Belldandy to tag along.

"_I wonder if Yggdrasil would mind if I turned her into a block of ice?_" Lind wondered to herself. Not liking being showed up so easily. Especially from someone from the GRO. They were similar to Yggdrasil's hippies. For a warrior like Lind, it was a large shot to her pride to be outdone by one.

"Big brother!" A voice called out. Keiichi looked around and saw the little girl that had lost her mother's wallet yesterday. She was waving to him and smiling. Nearby was a woman in a yellow suit and glasses.

Keiichi, Lind and Belldandy sat across from the girl and her mother. Keiichi in between the two goddesses. Belldandy was smiling and Lind was staring daggers at Belldandy, not that she noticed. In front of the three of them were sandwiches and soda drinks for all three.

"You were so kind to Hijiri yesterday." The lady in yellow suit told.

"No, no!" Keiichi waved his hands shyly. "Thank you for treating us."

"Hijiri, make sure to thank big brother too okay?" The woman told her daughter who was nibbling on her sandwich. She said her thanks, still nibbling.

"Hey are you two big brother's girlfriends?" Hijiri asked innocently. Keiichi sprayed his drink outward onto Hijiri's mother. She wiped her face off with a napkin.

Keiichi coughed a bit, breathing in some of the drink. Lind patted his back a bit roughly to help. Trying to win his favor again from Belldandy. "I-I'm so sorry!" _"I don't need Belldandy taking all the credit for my wish assignment._" Lind thought sorely while trying to help Keiichi.

"Hey, you're red! You turned red!" Hijiri shouted joyfully while her mother continued to dry herself off, looking just a tad annoyed and embarrassed.

"I'm not a girlfriend, but I am a…" Belldandy was cut off when Lind held Belldandy's mouth shut by force.

"You shouldn't say things like that in public!" Keiichi warned Belldandy and Lind was nodding also.

"My, you three seem very friendly." Hijiri's mother commented.

"It's the first time I've seen ladies wearing such odd clothing." Hijiri commented, looking first to Belldandy, then to Lind.

"Are these clothes strange?" Belldandy asked in a worried manner. She wanted to fit in as best as she could.

"We don't wear clothing like this here." Keiichi told both Lind and Belldandy. Lind made a mental note not to wear her Valkyrie uniform anymore in public. "They stand out just a bit much." Belldandy looked around to see what the others around her were wearing.

"Is that so?" Belldandy stood up and Lind could sense Belldandy gathering her magical energy.

"We need to go now I'm very sorry." Lind bowed then grabbed Belldandy by the arm roughly and dragged her back to Keiichi's bike.

"Please forgive us." Keiichi bowed and followed the two goddesses around the corner.

"You can't go around using your magic like that in public!" Lind said harshly to Belldandy.

Belldandy looked to Keiichi for support as he came around the corner. "She's right Belldandy. If people know you can use magic it can cause us all serious trouble. It's not normal here." Keiichi told her. Belldandy looked down saddened. Suddenly Keiichi felt very guilty scolding her and also looked ashamed.

"We have some privacy here." Lind told breaking the two out of their guilty thoughts. "Let's take this time to change into more suitable clothing. Belldandy nodded and the two goddesses glowed brightly. Belldandy was wearing a brown coat with a mellow pink shirt underneath and a skirt matching the coat. Lind was wearing a purple short sleeved shirt with yellow letters that read 'The Valkyries' and black jeans that ended at her thighs. Both wore identical leather boots.

"_Well at least they agree in boots."_ Keiichi thought while scratching the side of his face and looking at them awkwardly.

Keiichi got on his bike and Belldandy quickly sat down in the side car before Lind had a chance. Lind wondered what to do now. Keiichi could tell she was troubled. He patted the spot behind him. "Sit here; just hang onto me so you don't fall." Lind followed his directions and sat as she was told feeling very shy all of a sudden. "Let's go find an apartment for the three of us then.

"Yes!" Both goddesses agreed at the same time.

Xxxxx

For the next several hours Keiichi searched, negotiated with land lords and pleaded with friends for some kind of help. All of while Belldandy waited patiently, Lind tried her best to keep herself occupied too little success. She was not like Belldandy and the other goddesses of the GRO. Waiting was never something she was good at. The next land lord Keiichi was driving too was about to get the entire brunt of her frustrations.

"How many real estate agencies have we visited now?" Lind asked her voice full of sarcasm.

"This will be the fourteenth one Lind." Belldandy told her joyfully, still managing to smile.

Keiichi went inside and the two girls followed him. "Thank you for seeing me." Keiichi said as he sat down. Belldandy occupied the seat next to him. Lind stood behind the two of them. "We're looking for a house for two people to live in."

"So what kind of place are you looking for? The landlord behind his desk asked.

"It should have a kitchen and at least two other rooms. If possible, it should include a restroom and a room with a bathtub. Also, we'll want one that includes parking for a motorcycle. It should cost no more than 15,000 yen per month. I know it's probably impossible, but I want you to look for something like that.

The landlord stood up and adjusted the glasses on his face. "There's no place like that!" The owner shouted.

Lind cracked her knuckles. "You're going about his all wrong Keiichi-san. Negotiations have broken down. There's only one alternative now." Lind jumped up on the desk and grabbed him by his suit and tie and lifted him up out his chair with a single hand. "You're going to check again. You're going to find a place for us this time." Lind told harshly while shaking him and threatening to punish him if he didn't.

Belldandy made a shield around the man forcing Lind to let go. "That's enough Lind! You're scaring him!" Belldandy told her, like a mother scolding her children.

Lind was seriously tempted to fight with Belldandy but ultimately let it go and left the store. Leaving the land lord and Keiichi looking shocked at what just happened.

It took Keiichi a few moments to gather himself and follow Lind out after apologizing. Belldandy was right behind him. "What was that all about?" Keiichi demanded as he saw Lind sitting on his bike waiting.

"You were not getting us anywhere so I gave it a try." Lind told as if she had done nothing wrong.

"By threatening him!" Keiichi shouted while pointing back at the agency they just came out of. Belldandy tried to calm him down.

"Yes, by threatening him. I'm a Valkyrie; it's in our nature to fight. You seem unable to understand that!" Lind snapped back pointing at his chest somewhat roughly. "You have not been doing your part either Keiichi. You live like some doormat!"

"Let's all calm down please." Belldandy said stepping between the two of them. "You two are good friends, don't fight, seeing both of you like this makes me very." Lind and Keiichi both looked away from each other. Both feeling guilty at their outburst. Belldandy was definitely taking up the mother of the group in the newly formed trio.

"Look… I'm sorry. I don't like being held up on something so trivial for so long." Lind explained.

"I'm sorry also. I should be more understanding. This must be very tough for you to have restrained yourself for this long." Keiichi said as he got on the bike in front of her. Belldandy got into the side car as she saw Lind hang onto Keiichi as they began to drive off.

The trio visited one last real estate agency. Once again the trio we're refused with their impossible request. "I have an idea to help us along." Belldandy said,Keiichi and Lind stopped to hear her out.

"Let me ask the Holy Spirit if there is a place for the three of us to live."

"Another incantation?" Lind asked her fellow goddess who nodded.

"It sounds good, let's give it a try. It can't hurt to try." Keiichi told Belldandy.

"_I really need to learn some incantations…" _ Lind thought staring bitterly toward Belldandy. She found the need to be more and more useful suddenly. She did not want to get left behind and defeated by Belldandy on an assignment given to her.

Belldandy nodded then began. "We are people who are wandering. We are looking for a place to live a peaceful life. Oh Holy Spirit of the Bill, with the bountiful hopes of this person please show us the path to take right now.

A person walking by bumped into Keiichi and took his wallet. Lind noticed what the man did and grabbed his arm and pulled him backward, causing Keiichi's wallet to spill open and a 2,000 yen note fell out. A gust of wind blew the note high into the air. Keiichi and Lind both watched the note fly off.

"Ah! That was all the money we had!" Keiichi shouted in distress. "We have to catch it!"

"Yes." Belldandy nodded. Lind let go of the thief and quickly got on the bike. Her eyes never losing track of the money note.

Xxxxx

Keiichi followed Lind's directions leading the three to the front of a rather large temple. Lind got off the bike feeling good about herself. She finally felt she did something good for the newly formed trio for the first time today.

"The note. It came down somewhere inside the temple." Lind informed them as they got off the bike.

'_Tariki Hongan Temple.'_ The wooden banner read. Looking around on the temple grounds Lind spotted the bill sticking out of the offerings box. "Over there Keiichi." Lind pointed to the box with a green item fluttering out of it. Lind and Keiichi approached it.

Belldandy looked around the empty lot nearby. It was full of rocks and weeds. "I don't sense any evil spirits! It's a really wonderful place!" Belldandy informed the others.

Lind nodded, she was not sensing any either. Keiichi however was more concerned with the yen note he was reaching for when the doors in front of him opened up and a Buddhist priest tried to whack Keiichi over the door with a plank of wood. Lind stepped in front of him and blocked the hit with her arm then grabbed the item from him and threw it back at the priest. The item struck him in the forehead and sent him reeling back to fall unconscious in the hall. Belldandy shouted in surprise and ran to the priest. "Maybe I over did it?" Lind asked aloud.

Keiichi lowered his head in shame. "Hard to believe a goddess would strike a man of the cloth."

Lind paid him no attention. "I saw you about to be attacked. I acted, that's all there is to it." Lind shrugged it off. "Well let's get him inside" Lind picked up the priest putting him over her shoulder and Belldandy followed Lind inside. Keiichi grabbed his yen note before following the two girls inside.

Lind set the man down and Belldandy started the healing. A gentle light washed over the priest and the swelling on his forehead went down until it was gone completely.

He woke up moments later to find Keiichi and the girls sitting around him in a circle. "W-what happened?" The middle aged priest asked looking at Keiichi while sitting up. "The last thing I remember was you trying to steal from the donation box. Then I'm lying here."

"That is my fault. I saw you attacking so I reacted quickly and struck you with your own weapon." Lind told him while scooting a bit closer to Keiichi and lowering and lowered her head to him.

Keiichi touched her shoulder. "It was no one's fault, only a misunderstanding. The truth is we did not come to steal from you." Keiichi waved the yen note. "This was blown out of my wallet and landed within the temple grounds, I was trying to recover it when you encountered us."

The priest nodded and bowed back to Lind in apology. "I still have much to learn it would seem."

Keiichi set the yen note down and slid it to the priest. "I was wondering if the three of us could stay at temple for this amount for the night. We don't have a place to live and were in trouble. If 2,000 yen isn't enough, I'll do anything I can do. Please!"

Lind felt a bit proud in Keiichi. He was finally starting to get out of his shell of relying on friends and work on his own.

The priest just laughed and it made everyone except Lind nervous. He got up and walked to the door and stood outside. His back was to the trio. "That 2,000 yen is your pay for helping with the work at the temple. In addition, I'll guarantee your dinner and a place to sleep tonight." Keiichi and Bell smiled. Lind was Lind; she just nodded to agree to the terms. "Work at the temple is fun! Get ready immediately."

"Thank you very much!" Keiichi said, happy that he'd finally got a break from searching for a new home, at least for tonight. The priest just laughed as he walked away.

Xxxxx

Keiichi ran along the floor on all fours with a cloth under his hands cleaning the walkways. The priest watched him work. Occasionally he hit Keiichi with a stick to encourage him forward. Belldandy was gently cleaning the railing and statues nearby Keiichi. She was singing the entire time. Lind noted Belldandy stayed near Keiichi. She decided to let it go for now. Looking around to make sure the priest could not see her. Lind made her weapon appear and stared at the large rocks in front of her. Lind looked happy as she raised her poleaxe and swung down hard at the stones shattering them. This activity reminded her of her last time training in heaven.

The priest came to check on Lind and noticed an unusual aura around her while she single handedly lifted several large stone chunks after her demolition session. He looked on suspiciously as Lind carried off three stones larger then herself with relative ease. _"This must be…"_

Lind looked to the priest as she walked by. "Something I can help you with?"

"Ah no! It's nothing." The priest moved on and let it go for now.

Belldandy was sweeping up the leaves while the sound of hammering rang out as Keiichi worked on the roof. Lind was in the field nearby pulling out weeds. In the distance the sun was beginning to set making the sky look a beautiful orange color.

Keiichi stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat off his face with his shirt. "Working for this priest was harder than I thought."

Belldandy looked at him. "I don't think he means any harm though."

"Were staying for free. It's only fair we earn our stay." Lind pitched in still hard at work combating the weeds. Keiichi and Belldandy both nodded to this and got back to work.

Keiichi knelt back down a bit to work on another part of the roof when the wood under him gave out throwing him off balance and sending him to begin rolling down off roof. Belldandy and Lind both turned when he began to scream and saw him about to fall off the roof. Belldandy started an incantation and Lind flew directly to him. As he fell Belldandy began gathering leaves under where he would land to break his fall. Lind caught him in mid air and flew upwards towards the roof again causing the leaves Belldandy tried to gather scattered again. When she stood on the roof she was holding onto Keiichi bridal style.

"That was a close one." Belldandy sighed with relief.

Lind looked a bit embarrassed. She set him down gently then jumped off the roof and back to the weeds. "Do try to watch your step from now on."

"It's a good thing you are here Lind." Keiichi said trying to joke about his mistake. Belldandy however took that the wrong way and turned her back to him and lowered her head. Her free hand close to her heart.

"That skill. Those women. What are they?" From behind a nearby tree the priest saw both the goddesses use their magic.

Xxxxx

Night quickly came around and the moon was high in the sky. Keiichi, Lind and Belldandy were all asleep on the floor. Keiichi and Belldandy were fast asleep.

Lind however was tossing and turning. Her face looking as though she were in agony.

xxxxx

_Several dozen goddesses in identical Valkyrie uniforms flew in a tight formation across what looked like a war torn landscape. Everywhere were burning and fallen trees, the sky was full of smoke choking the remaining wildlife. Besides craters and ditches, there were corpses everywhere. Some by deliberate visible wounds, others just caught in the backlash of the sudden violence. Those that survived to die from the smoke were the lucky ones. The unfortunate ones starved. What set this landscape apart from others was the incongruity of the damage. Some trees still burning had another next to it frozen so severely that the flames made no impact at all. That this was the same from horizon to horizon showed how long this battle had lasted._

"_Is this your first battle against the demons Lind?" A Valkyrie flying besides Lind to _her_ right asked_

"_Yes." Lind asked sheepishly. The nervousness could be heard easily in her voice._

"_This is one hell of a way to earn your silver wings." The one on the right replied sadly._

"_I'm surprised the silver wings even allowed you in considering you only have a single wing." Another Valkyrie somewhere within the mass taunted._

_This made Lind grind her teeth together. "Don't you worry! I'll get my second wing then you will all be sorry!" She snapped and several of the Valkyries laughed at Lind's outburst._

"_Don't let them get to you Lind Lind looked to her left and saw a Valkyrie with mint green hair and yellow eyes. Something about her put Lind at ease assuring her, almost like a mother._

_Lind smiled back at her and nodded. " It's you again! What's your name?"_

"_I am Celveria."_

"_It's a pleasure to meet you." Lind replied._

"_We're thirty seconds out! Cut the chatter and get ready!" The Valkyrie at the front of the pack shouted. One by one the Valkyries looked forward; each of them focused and made their respective weapons appear._

"_Don't be nervous Lind. I'll look after you. I promise it." Celveria told Lind while looking forward, a sword in her right hand. Lind nodded, made her pole poleaxe appear and looked forward in front of her. Her face full of determination to survive this._

_As the group flew through a smoke cloud they were greeted by battle spells. The barrage of spells caused the Valkyries to scatter in an attempt to evade._

xxxxx

Lind woke up in a blind panic. Her breathing and pulse were racing she was in a cold sweat. Looking around she saw Keiichi and Belldandy, still fast asleep. "It was only a dream…" Lind shakily got up and went outside for some fresh air. As she opened the door she noticed the priest asleep against the wall near their room and the hole in the door to their room. Lind wrapped her blanket around his shoulders and went out into the courtyard. The hands on the clock showed 2:37 a.m. _as_ she left.

In the courtyard she started to replace some of the stones from the wall, picking them up from where they'd fallen. When she was about half way though, Belldandy appeared.

Lind just looked towards the ground. Visions of a scorched earth flashed in her memory again. "I should not have returned to the earth realm. I have a lot of skeletons here."

Belldandy looked on worried. Belldandy's angel Holy Bell appeared from behind. She looked very similar to Belldandy in the face but wore a cloth strap to cover her chest and had bright blond hair; on her back were a pair of white angel wings. "Perhaps Holy Bell and I can help." The two held hands and nodded to each other. Holy Bell then floated slightly above Belldandy and the two began to sing.

As Lind listened she started to relax. It was a soothing melody. The wall that Lind was repairing by hand began to magically mend itself. The same happened with the stone walkway leading to the front of the temple. As they continued to sing Belldandy raised her arms above her. A golden spiral of light formed above Belldandy and Holy Bell encompassing Lind, a sweet gentle breeze blew through the air. Shortly after they stopped singing the light and breeze dissipated leaving a hint of its healing. "Thank you Holy Bell." Belldandy said and her angel smiled and disappeared back to Belldandy. "Feeling better now Lind?"

Lind looked at her hands for a moment then to Belldandy and nodded. "Its helps some yes."

Belldandy smiled warmly at her companion. From afar the priest saw the entire event occur. "_I'm no match. That guardian spirit and singing voice which would fascinate anyone. It's far beyond the enlightenment I, Koshian, have attained. I-I am still inexperienced_." Koshian left and began packing what few items he possessed.

Xxxxx

The next morning Keiichi opened the door with the hole in it and yawned. "I slept well last night."

"Keiichi san!" Belldandy greeted him at the door looking at him urgently. "The priest has…"

Keiichi looked at her with a confused look. "What?"

Xxxxx

Koshian was near the entrance to the temple. He was wearing a straw umbrella hat. "My Tariki Hongan temple, it will only be a short separation."

He walked past the front gate to the street leading up to the temple. "Leaving without saying goodbye?" Turning to his right was Lind leaning up against the wall her arms folded and looking a bit disappointed at the priest. "I thought you were better than that."

Belldandy and Keiichi ran to catch up to him. "Where are you going?"

Still looking towards Lind he answered. "I am still green. To be enlightened, I need to go on a nationwide training pilgrimage! Please see me off with a smile."

"Why so suddenly?" Keiichi asked moving closer to Koshian.

"I fully realized how inexperienced I was like Belldandy-sama. I must, one day, be able to sing my heart out with my guardian spirit to send people to heaven." Koshian explained looking back to Keiichi and Belldandy.

"Guardian spirit?" Keiichi asked.

"Until then, take care of this temple." Koshian walked out towards the street again. "See you!" The sounds of his laughter faded as he walked away from the temple.

Keiichi and Belldandy looked at each other as Lind approached the two. "What does he mean by guardian spirit?" Keiichi asked as Lind stopped near the two to listen in.

"I think he's talking about her." Belldandy said as Holy Bell appeared from behind Belldandy again.

Keiichi took a step back his eyes wide in shock as he saw Holy Bell. "W-who's that?" he stuttered.

Belldandy and Holy Bell held hands together again. "She's Holy Bell. She's the one who protects me, and is within me, my other self."

The priest laughed some more. Keiichi looked towards where the sound emmitanted. "As I thought. The priest jumped to a conclusion." He looked a bit guilty tricking the priest.

"Although, we have a place to live through his kindness right?" Belldandy asked. Both Lind and Keiichi nodded.

"Say Lind. Does this you have an 'other self' also?" Keiichi asked and she nodded.

"We call them angels Keiichi." Lind closed her eyes and an angel appeared just like with Holy Bell. "This is my angel, Spearmint." Spearmint looked younger in her face then Lind. She had nearly solid red eyes. On her back was only a single left wing, just like Lind.

"I see is she why you only have a single wing Lind?" Keiichi asked and both Spearmint and Lind nodded at the same time. Spearmint though looking ashamed disappeared back within Lind. "Ah… I didn't mean to upset your angel."

Lind sighed. "Don't worry about it. She knows. We are both sensitive about this is all."

Keiichi looked saddened but let it go for now. "We still have a lot of work to fix up our new home."

"Let's do our best." Belldandy added. Keiichi and Lind nodded and began.

For the next several hours the three continued what they all began yesterday. Lind finished the roof, not trusting Keiichi to finish it after yesterday's mishap. Belldandy washed and dried the entire amount of laundry within the temple. Keiichi was busy packing and storing the items Koshian left behind that were of no use to any of the new inhabitants of the temple. After the work was done Lind and Belldandy watched as Keiichi added a label to the front gate of the temple that had 'Morisato residence' written on it. The three took a moment to take in the pride of it. Finally the three had a place to call their own on.

Xxxxx

Later that evening Belldandy found that nearly all the food Koshian had stored in the kitchen was still there. Belldandy used it to cook a nice meal for the three of them.

"Dinner is ready." Belldandy announced as she set down curry and rice plates for the three of them.

Keiichi was the first to take a bite. "This is awesome! Thank you Belldandy!" Belldandy smiled and watched the two eat.

"It would be best for us if we left food related chores to her." Lind threw in. "It was never one of my strong points."

Keiichi and Belldandy laughed. "I am in the same. I always used to eat pre cooked items back at the dorm. If it couldn't be cooked with a microwave I didn't buy it." That put off a lot of the sting that she couldn't cook. Knowing Keiichi could not either made her happy somewhat actually. The two found one more thing the two had in common.

"I could teach you how to Keiichi-san." Belldandy offered.

"That's kind of you but I think you'd be wasting your time on me. I have no talent for that." Belldandy seemed disappointed by this but let the topic drop.

Xxxxx

After the dinner the three went their separate ways. Each picked a room for themselves and a common room that was dubbed 'everyone's tea room.' Keiichi sat in his empty room when he heard some unusual noises outside, He looked out and found Lind back in her Valkyrie uniform performing a complicated kata. Keiichi watched until she was finished.

"Oh! Keiichi-san. I didn't realize you were there. Is there anything I can do?" Lind approached and sat down next to him.

"No I just heard you from within my room so I thought I'd see what was happening." Keiichi told. Lind nodded and stood back up to continue. "It must be tough on you. No one to practice with here."

Lind thought about it for a moment. "I-If you'd like I can teach you… If you think you can handle it that is."

Keiichi thought it over. "Sure why not. How hard could it be?"

Lind nearly laughed at that. "First we need to get you in shape before I start teaching you other things. Are you able to run in those clothes?"

Keiichi suddenly having a bad feeling about this. "Well… sure but…"

"Good then. We can begin by running a few miles up and down the street outside." Lind took him by the hand and dragged him off.

Belldandy watched with a smile as Lind and Keiichi left to go on their first run.

Xxxxx

"Just go at the pace you want Keiichi and I will match it. I need to see what you're capable of." Lind explained and the two ran down the street side by side. They ran at a good pace for a few minutes before Keiichi slowed to a light jog. Once Keiichi was completely exhausted he stopped. "You went further than I thought you might, well done Keiichi." Lind told him as he sat down sweaty and exhausted.

He looked up at her and she seemed barely winded even slightly. "You're not even tired in the least though!" Keiichi said pitifully.

"You're not being fair to yourself. Comparing you to me is like comparing a kitten to a lion. You need to give it time Keiichi and you will be physically fit enough to start learning." Lind told trying to sound as supporting as she could.

Keiichi sat on the side walk to catch his breath. Seeing this might take a while Lind sat beside him. "Hey Lind." She looked at him. "Before you said this place wasn't as pretty of a place as it is now. What did you mean by that?"

A vision of Celveria's face appeared before her. This time unlike the dream, there was a small trickle of blood running from between her lips; her eyes had glazed over in death as Lind sat holding her friends to her.

"Lind?" Keiichi seemed curious.

She stood up angrily. "I don't want to talk about it! I'll meet you back at the temple!" Lind walked off rather quickly leaving behind an exhausted Keiichi behind her. Keiichi wondering what was with the cause of the sudden change of mood.

Xxxxx

Lind returned to the temple and saw that Belldandy was waiting for her outside of her room. "You shouldn't take it out on Keiichi. Earth is a different place now and that war is long over."

"What do you know about me! You weren't there!" Lind walked up to Belldandy and starred her in the eyes.

"You're right. I never was dragged into it. It ended before I had to fight. But you can't hold onto these fears forever. Neither Keiichi nor I deserve this mistreatment from you anymore then you deserve what happened to you back then." Belldandy said pulling Lind into a hug.

"… I'll apologize in the morning. Let me be the one to tell him about it when I feel I'm ready." Lind said sadly.

Belldandy nodded and let Lind go from the embrace. "Goodnight Lind." She wished the other goddess she went to the front entrance of the temple to wait for Keiichi to return. After about ten minutes he too staggered in, going straight to his room after also wishing Belldandy a goodnight.

That night Lind had the same dream. Once again she was startled from her sleep. The time on the clock noted 2:37 a.m. Walking around a bit to calm herself she could sense a strong heavenly aura near the temple grounds. As she ran outside to see who it was the presence vanished entirely. There was no trace of a teleportation spell or anything being used either. Lind flew high into the air to get a better look but could find nothing. "Whoever it was they are strong, possibly a Valkyrie; one that's good at masking their aura." Lind's eyes continued to scan the trees and road path but could still find nothing. Deciding it was a lost cause Lind returned to the ground and went back into the temple.

.

Xxxxx

The next morning Keiichi woke to the smell of food being prepared. Entering the kitchen he discovered Belldandy preparing breakfast and Lind was sitting down with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Good morning Keiichi-san" The two girls said in sync with each other.

He sat down and Belldandy set down a cup tea for him as well. "_I could get use to this. Waking up with two pretty girls living with me._" Lind gave him a cold stare hearing his thoughts. "Or maybe not."

"About the exercise yesterday Keiichi… I-I didn't mean it. I just had an awful experience the last time I visited Earth. I was wrong to take it out on you." Lind told.

"I'm just as much to blame you. I shouldn't have been so noisy. I just wanted to know more about you that's all. I have so much I want to ask, what heaven like and how you live there. Things like that."

"Were interested in you also Keiichi-san." Belldandy said. "Perhaps the three can one day sit down and trade stories."

"That sounds… I-I think I would like that." Lind said. Keiichi also seemed pleased with this idea.

"We still have some trouble though, if _you're_ to remain with me all the time Lind. We need to find a way to get you admitted into NIT without drawing suspicions." _He sat back "_Well we have one more day to come up with something._"_

"I can wait for you like before can't I?" Lind asked Keiichi.

Keiichi rolled his eyes at this. "That was a close call as it was. Besides, you and Bell can't go around showing off your magic in public all the time. Flying up an electric pole is a definite give away. It was a miracle you weren't discovered."

"What do you suggest then? Is there anything I can do to help?" Belldandy asked as she put plates with scrambled eggs in front of Lind and Keiichi then returned from the kitchen with her own.

"I don't know, the seniors at the motor club might know however. If anyone might have a plan to get you in Lind it would be them." Keiichi said.

"This seems very dishonest but we have no choice." Belldandy said.

Lind nodded, patting her face with her napkin having finished her meal. "We need to gather Keiichi's personal items from the dorm still. We can tell them of our situation then. Let's hope they are in a helpful mood."

"Oh I they will be, Tamiya and Otaki are always looking for a reason to pull a prank. I know they'll be more than happy to have an excuse no matter what." Keiichi told them.

"I don't like that idea of lying to the dean. But if you're going to go through with this I would like to attend class with you also Keiichi-san." Belldandy said and Lind felt like Bell was stepping on her toes again.

"It's agreed then. Tomorrow we go to get Belldandy and I admitted within NIT." Lind said

Xxxxx

Lind was on her way to her room as she passed by Keiichi's she saw him sitting down in front of a black and white television flicking through the channels. Passing to a news channel he turned into it long enough for Lind to hear Lind to hear the reporter start the next item. "_Late last night a couple was found petrified. Police records report that the cause of this was unknown only that the two were found with horrified looks on their faces…_" Keiichi carried on flicking.

Lind quickly doubled back to Keiichi's room . "Go back to that previous channel now!" Lind shouted and Keiichi did so in a nervous panic. "_The two were found around this morning and time of being petrified was estimated to be between one and three a.m. This is the same as the elderly man who was also killed in a similar fashion and manner the night before last. The police are asking the public for help. If you have any leads please notify your local precinct agency._"

"Where is that place the couple were found?" Lind demanded from Keiichi.

"It looks like is happened in the northern district of Nekomi, why Lind?"

"We need to get there!" Lind said as she started to leave. "Grab your things!" Lind shouted from the hallway as she rushed to her room

"Wait, now?" Keiichi moaned. "It's nearly 10 a.m. I have a program I want to watch!"

Lind completely ignored him. "Belldandy you should come too, having two goddesses there will be better than just one."

Belldandy shouted yes from her room and Keiichi had tears in his eyes. "I waited all week for this…"

Lind returned and grabbed Keiichi by the collar of his shirt and dragged him across the ground. Keiichi left a trail of tears behind him as he was carted off.

Xxxxx

* * *

Author thanks:

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

GraysonPaladin, ErekLich, Akasui, Kaiser969, Tripod762, BrazeRancor, major wallace

For those who liked my story enough to put it on alert.

Tripod762, thisistwicenow, Highlord Cross The Bloody, Earth of Dragon

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

GraysonPaladin, ErekLich, Highlord Cross The Bloody, KyosukeCA, major Wallace

Thanks to the following for adding me to author alert.

Computerfreak CK, mjnousak

To my two beta readers who help me take my muddle of a story and make it decent.

mjnousak, "bob"


	4. Ah! Patterns are formed!

Author notes:

I apologize for the late update. Things at home have been somewhat crazy so I haven't had as much time this week and probably will be the same for the next few weeks.

On another note, "Bob" brought up a valid complaint about my use of the word 'petrify.' So to clear up any misunderstandings this is the definition of the word as I use it within my story. I do not mean to say the people attacked are turned to stone.

2. To benumb or paralyze with astonishment, horror, or other strong emotion: _I was petrified with fear_.

3. To make rigid or inert; harden; deaden: _The tragedy in his life petrified his emotions_.

* * *

"So why is it we're here again?" A gloomy looking Keiichi asked. "This was supposed to be a relaxing day for us. We finally found a home to stay; let's take a day to enjoy it while we can." Keiichi moaned arriving at a house sectioned off by the police.

Before them was the entire scene of an investigation. Street police acting as crowd control for press and onlookers. Detectives searched the house and immediate area, taking statements from the pair who discovered the couple. The coroner and medical staff were also present, for now all they were able to do was monitor the vitals of the couple that for the time being were normal. Aside from being in a frozen like state and having horrified looks on their faces they were completely healthy.

"It's a part of my responsibility as a Valkyrie to discover and eliminate any threats both to innocents and heaven alike. If something supernatural is preying on people I will destroy it." Lind explained.

Keiichi was shocked at the implications. "You think this will happen again?" Lind nodded at him and pushed through the crowd until she was stopped at the yellow police tape. Keiichi turned to Belldandy. "Does this happen often in your line of work?"

"Normally I grant mortals wishes, I work for the Goddess Relief Office, however there are other beings besides goddesses and demons with abilities to do this. I haven't encountered them but they do exist." Belldandy explained. "Don't worry though if we discover it, I believe Lind and I can manage to contain it." She told him reassuringly with a smile and a small, warm laugh.

Lind looked around and scanned the thoughts of the detectives, one was musing while his partner interviewed the witnesses. "_It's the exact same as the old man from last night. Same petrified state, and the same horrified look also. The only difference was the old man croaked from a heart attack. His heart was weak though so that's understandable. Still whatever it is these people saw or heard it really put a number on them."_

After listening to this Lind returned to Keiichi and Belldandy. "I'd like to go and see the couple inside the house." Belldandy nodded. Keiichi however had a bad feeling. This reminded him of the pranks Tamiya and Otaki would get involved in, if only it weren't so serious of a problem.

"Well how do you plan to get all three of us in there without causing a scene or exposing your magic?" Keiichi tried to reason, hoping to talk Lind out of this.

"Over there look!" Belldandy pointed to a group of three officers heading towards a black van parked around the corner marked with the usual Nekomi police decals on the sides of it. "We can take their place."

Lind nodded to Belldandy. "Let's go then. You each take one of them." Belldandy and Keiichi looked at Lind as though she had lost her marbles. Lind sighed a bit. "Alright then I'll take them all." Lind surveyed the van and noticed one officer is in the passenger's seat looking for something in the cabin. The second was at the end of the truck, the third was by the sliding door on the left side of the van. Near the third was a puddle of water from the neighbor's sprinkler system. Lind decided to start with this officer. She pointed at the puddle and with her magic froze it. She walked calmly up to the officer who looked around as she approached.

"Miss you can't be here, you…!" the officer's voice cut off by Lind cover his mouth with her right hand. With her left arm she held him by the waist and in a single fluid movement fell backwards towards the ice taking him with her. Instead of impacting the two of them fell through it with a small flash of light from the magic being used. Lind reappeared moments later on the roof of the very house she wanted to enter.

"Hey did you say something Nobou?" The officer at the back of the van asked while looking for his friend. "Where did you go off to now?" he asked himself while beginning to move to the left of the van. As he turned around the corner Lind jumped off the roof and landed behind him. "What the…!" Was all the man managed to say as Lind grabbed him in a similar fashion to the first and flew up onto the roof, with him struggling all the way. After a few moments Lind peered over the roof and saw the remaining officer.

Keiichi who saw her fly off with the second officer groaned. "I –you-what are we going to do when they wake up? I'm too soft to go to jail. I'll never make it in there." Keiichi nearly cried. This was turning out be another horrible day as he imagined himself being traded away for one or two packs of cigarettes.

"Don't worry Keiichi-san. I can clear their minds of these memories after Lind makes them all sleep." Belldandy said smiling, as cheerful as ever.

Keiichi just rolled his eyes and scratched the side his face in a questioning manner. "_First Lind hits a priest and now the law. To top it off Belldandy seems totally fine about this all. Are all the goddesses in heaven as brazen as these two?" _Keiichi wondered to himself while staring at Belldandy who was blushing slightly and giving him her trademark smile.

The remaining officer climbed out of the cabin of the van. "I'm all set to return you two. Let's get going back to the house…" He waited for a reply that wouldn't arrive. "You guys?" The officer looked to the right towards the back and saw nothing. He started to make his way to the back of the van while Lind approached him from behind. When she was within arm distance from him put him in a strangle hold with the crook of her elbow around his neck, cutting off blood to the brain.

Immediately the man began to struggle. He tried to step onto Lind's foot but she gracefully countered him wrapping her right leg around his, preventing it from moving anymore. "Stop struggling, I'm not going to hurt you." Lind told calmly. The officer could feel himself losing consciousness. In an act of desperation he punched Lind in the face but it didn't weaken her grip on him. "I'm not going to hurt you!" She told with authority after getting punched on her cheek for a second time. The man after that quit struggling and Lind held the choke hold for another second to make sure he was really unconscious before picking him up and jumping through the ice to the roof. There she gently set him with the two officers. Getting the all clear signal from Lind. Belldandy took Keiichi's hand and going through the ice joined Lind on the roof. When they arrived they found Lind looking very proud of herself.

"We've knocked out three officers now what?" Keiichi asked sadly. If he might go to jail for this it would be a shame to at least not see inside the house first.

"I can help." Belldandy offered looking to Lind who nodded. "Oh Great Spirit of the laws. Lend us your faithful servants to uncover what cannot be seen normally." Belldandy chanted. The three felt light headed and disorientated for a moment.

"Nothing happened." Keiichi said, and then he realized his voice was that of one of the officer's. "EHHH!" Looking down he saw his body, along with Belldandy's and Lind's lying on the roof. "What happened to us Lind?" Keiichi asked staring at the one he assumed was Lind.

"We've swapped our spirits, we are them and they are us, at least for the time being." Lind informed him as she stood up. "I'm over here Keiichi-san. That's Belldandy." She said as Belldandy stood up also.

"How do we return to our old selves if they have our bodies?" Keiichi asked frantically. "This is too much for me, I don't even sound like myself!"

"Calm down Keiichi-san." Belldandy told gently. Even as a male she somehow managed to sound reassuring. "They have our bodies but not minds or in the case of Lind and myself, our magic. Spearmint and Holy Bell also transferred with us."

Lind nodded and picking up Keiichi in her arms and jumped off the roof into the alley by the van and set him down carefully. _"I so hope no one saw that. It was weird enough just seeing one grown man holding another in that way. Then there's us jumping off the roof."_ Keiichi thought as Belldandy slowly floated down to the ground beside the two of them. "_Or floating off…"_

"Let's be off now." Lind told and led the three to the front of the house where they entered without arousing any suspicions.

Inside the house Lind went straight to the room where the couple were. After Keiichi told the other officers to vacate the room he shut the door to give them a moment of privacy. Much to Lind's relief the petrified couple hadn't been moved and were still in their original positions, laying in their bed. She and Belldandy then searched the room, concentrating in the more unusual spots for clues, the ceiling, the bed it's self and the corners.

"Lind have you noticed the aura in this room, it's the same as…"

"I know. We'll think on it later not here." Lind said sharply. Belldandy looked a bit hurt but nodded and tried to heal the couple. Nothing happened though. "That won't help Belldandy. They are fine physically."

"Yes. I know, but it was still worth trying." Belldandy said gloomily. This was the first time Keiichi heard Belldandy sound defeated. It sounded somewhat odd and foreign to him.

Lind held the shoulder of her fellow goddess. "Don't punish yourself. There is nothing you can do for them until we learn more." Belldandy seemed as if she would cry but just walked past Lind and Keiichi and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Lind tried to peer into their minds. After a few seconds her eyes went wide and she was blown back into a wall.

Keiichi ran to her. "Are you alright? What happened?" He asked offering his hand to help her up.

"T-thanks." Lind turned to hide a slight blush. "I tried to see into their minds but something stopped me. A barrier of sorts. If you'd call it that. I couldn't see or hear anything. All I know is whatever did this has something to hide. Why put up such a strong defense." Lind cleaned herself off while continuing. "It would seem I am just as ineffective as Belldandy and the police in helping them for now."

"How can you just give up on those two? I thought we came here to help them..." Lind was startled when Keiichi said that. Standing in place of Keiichi was Celveria talking to her. Like before, there was a small trickle of blood running from between her lips; but her eyes were glazed over in death.

"I don't understand." Lind heard Keiichi and Celveria say in unison. Then just as quickly as it began Lind's mind returned to normal and she saw Keiichi again.

"Something wrong Lind. You looked rather spooked for a moment." Keiichi asked.

Lind shook it off. "You could say that. Keiichi gave an even more confused look. Lind just smirked slightly. "You-It's nothing. I'll be fine. Let's go. There's nothing more we can do for them for now. We need to learn more about what did this to them first or we will cause more harm than good."

Keiichi looked at the couple one last time as he heard Lind opening the door. "_What could have been worse than seeing whatever caused this…?"_ He shuddered wondering at the possibilities as he followed Lind.

Outside Lind gathered up their bodiesfrom the roof and moved them to the van. With some quiet words from Belldandy the two groups returned to their normal bodies. The police, thanks to Lind and some of her magic were none the wiser about what had just happened. By the time they woke up Lind and company were long gone.

Xxxxx

When everyone returned to the temple Belldandy went straight to her room and closed the door. This left Keiichi and Lind to talk in the tea room.

"She's quite upset about all this." Keiichi said aloud to break the tension that been building between the group since they had returned to the temple.

Lind nodded. "She wasn't trained to confront such harsh realities any more then I was to understand peoples wishes or desires. Neither Belldandy nor I are in our normal element. Just give her time to sort it out herself. She'll be fine once she does so."

Keiichi was silent for a long while. He though whether or not to visit her. In the end he decided to trust Lind. "What did Belldandy mean by the aura before?" He finally asked.

Lind set down her cup of tea and drew an image with her magic of herself and Belldandy. "The citizens of heaven are not unlike those of this realm. We need to practice to grow our skills and spells. There are three major factors determining a god or goddess strength and ability. The first and most important is our constitution. This determines our vitality. Our bodies' ability to sustain a physical form. Performing tasks such as lifting and moving things physically. It also determines the amount of punishment we can sustain. Observe." Lind touched the Belldandy doll and it glowed. A red bar appeared by the image representing Belldandy. "Now look again. This time Lind touched her image. A bar, nearly three times larger appeared. "These are what we call in heaven personnel dolls. They give a basic status of each person in heaven and are give a fairly accurate estimate our abilities. As you can see my constitution is much higher than Belldandy's." Lind touched the dolls again. This time two blue bars appeared besides them. Lind's was still considerably larger then Belldandy's but not nearly as much as the red one. "The blue bar represents the protection of our other selves or angels as you refer to them as. We call this our spirit. The more of it we have the stronger we can make our spells to become. This also determines the level or class of spells we can perform. The third…" Lind touched each doll one last time and two green bars appeared. This time Belldandy's was higher than Lind's. "This bar represents our wisdom. It is based on the spells we know and also how well we can perform the spells. As you can see Belldandy knows more spells and can perform them better as she has had more opportunity to practice her magical abilities then I."

Keiichi looked dizzy from all the information coming at him so fast. "So let me get this straight. You have three major factors to determine your ability. Constitution, spirit and uh…"

"Wisdom." Lind finished for him.

Keiichi rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "T-thanks. What does this have to do with auras though?"

"Auras are a sort of wavelength. It is unique, like fingerprints to humans. No god or goddess has an identical aura. The strength of the aura differs however by our abilities. It's another way citizens of heaven can determine ability. We can see the auras. Belldandy was noting that traces of the aura remained even after several hours since the event took place so whatever or whoever did this has considerable strength." This made Keiichi swallow nervously. Lind noticed his worry and was touched he cared for her somewhat. "Don't worry. I think I can I am strong enough to defeat the source of this aura if need be. What concerned Belldandy and I was the type of aura. It was remarkably similar to one that someone within heaven would give off. It was about 95% the same as heavenly auras however there was something else mixed into it. Something dark, this is what has the two of us worried. It might be someone from heaven that is infected with a demonic program."

Keiichi thought about it. "What might cause this? Do you have any ideas?"

Lind shook her head. "That's another disturbing issue. We have no information to act on currently. For now all we can do is wait and watch and try to find a pattern to these incidents. This is putting us at a serious disadvantage not knowing. I doubt they are random attacks however. Those people were selected very methodically. When we learn the reason behind why they are selected finding the one responsible will be easy. Then I will be able to combat it on even ground."

Keiichi seemed troubled by this. "I can see why Belldandy is so upset. I must admit I also feel uneasy knowing this."

Lind nodded. "It's not just you… I worry. I'm just more use to dealing with this sort of thing. I try to remain detached. If you're too emotionally attached it only hurts that much more when you lose the person." Lind got up to leave the room, not wanting to try and explain her feelings to him.

"That must be very lonely and sad." Keiichi said quietly looking at the doll of Lind and the three flashing bars beside it. Then looked to the one they represented. "I don't know how you manage to survive all this time living like this."

Lind stopped at the door and turned her head to peer at Keiichi from the corner of her eye. Then she looked to her doll on the table. "I am what I need to be according to the doll to be an effective Valkyrie. It's for the best." She opened the sliding door and began to leave.

"Why?" Keiichi stood up. "There's more to a person then what some s-stupid picture shows!" In his frustration Keiichi flipped the tea table upside down to hide the images from Lind and himself. Surprising Lind slightly, though she was trained well enough to be able to hide it from him. "It doesn't have to be like that. You can be with people without a reason, without some mission or assignment. Don't hide your feelings from yourself or others." "_Or me."_ He added in his mind. In the heat of the moment he forgot Lind could hear him.

Lind said nothing but looked at the door, deep in thought. Keiichi stood there half wondering if he was about to get punched through a wall or something. This made Lind wonder about herself. She could hear the fearful thoughts running through his mind. "_Have I really become that cold-hearted?_" Lind thought to turn to face him and try to put him at ease but was unsure how. "I will consider what you have said about how I manage my life and feelings." With that Lind left the room and shut the door behind her.

Keiichi listened as he heard the sound of her footsteps weakening. When they were no longer heard Keiichi sighed deeply in relief. "_I thought for sure she was going to punish me for that!_" Looking at the time at the clock he noticed it was late in the day and he'd spent more time conversing with Lind than he'd imagined.

Xxxxx

That night Lind lay sleeping. Once again she found herself diving headlong into her dreamscape. Unlike last time, her face is peaceful and calm. It almost looked as if she were happy. The time on the clock in her room had just turned to 2:37 am.

_Lind, wearing her Valkyrie uniform; stepped down on a stone platform that is smaller than most in comparison but still large enough to support a rather large and impressive built manor. Looking around she noticed the structure was unlike most in heaven. The structure, being made of wood gave the interior a smell unique to her within heaven. There was stain plated glass making a picture of an angel like figure with a sword and scale in her hands. Above Lind is a sky light in the form of a circle. It allowed light to shine down on a detailed copy of the Valkyrie emblem set in the floor, the shaft of light it created illuminated the emblem making it seem to glow. The edge of the light precisely matched the edge of the emblem. Stepping further inside Lind was meet by several others working within the home. Each person went about his or her own agendas. "Welcome Lind. Our mistress is waiting for you. You can find her in the study. Please do not keep her waiting." Looking to her left was the man talking to her. He wore the traditional blue and white robes of someone currently not assigned to an office or division._

_Lind nodded to the man. "I didn't realize she took slaves to work beneath her. It seems I am mistaken by her character." She said sounding disappointed._

"_How dare you talk about our mistress in that manner! You don't know anything about us!" The man spat furiously. If Lind were not a Valkyrie he might have very well attacked her considering the look on his face._

_Lind nodded to the man. "You're right about that, if she has others attending her home in this manner."_

_The man grit his teeth and his face became red with anger. He was seriously tempted to punch her now, Valkyrie or not._

"_Let me escort you to our mistress' study madam Valkyrie." A female voice called from behind Lind. Looking over her shoulder was a goddess in the same uniform as the man. She had unusually dark orange hair and matching eyes. Lind nodded to her and the woman smiled and began walking down the long hallway. Once the two were some distance away from the front door the woman spoke up again. "Please forgive him. He is very defensive towards people who do not know of us, and why we are here."_

_Lind nodded. "It's admirable to defend others but..." She suddenly felt uneasy about what she was trying to ask. "Why do you all follow her, even if she is a high ranking Valkyrie she is not allowed to support slavery."_

_The female servant just shook her head. "You don't understand our position." As Lind and the servant passed a kitchen where three chefs were working. The maid stopped and insisted Lind look in. When she did so the servant continued her explanation. As you can see, each and every person in this home is here of his or her own free will. Our mistress has no bind over us. Were all free to come and go as we please. We're here because we want to be. We were all helped greatly by her in some form or another, and so in turn we pledge to serve her in appreciation. Each person here loves and respects her very much." Lind peered back at the chefs and indeed they did seem very happy in the role given to them._

"_So it would seem. I apologize for my earlier words." Lind said and bowed. The woman began walking onward and Lind hurried to catch up._

_The servant smiled as Lind caught up to her. "It's quite alright. I know that you are only worried for us and I thank you for that. But your fears are unfounded. I only wished to prove that to you."_

_Lind nodded. "You've made your point. I won't question this again." Lind inside was also very relieved to know she was right about her friend all along. She was exactly the type of person Lind thought she was._

"_Here we are." The two stopped at an elegantly crafted double door. "I'll be waiting for you here until you are ready to leave." The woman said and stood by the right half of the door and opened it for Lind._

_Lind nodded her thanks and entered. She heard the door was closed behind her. Looking inside were several large bookcases. They were laid out in a manner that surrounded a single desk in the center of the study. Looking about more thoroughly Lind found there is no one around any of the bookcases. Lind sensed objects falling towards her, her training from the Valkyries kicked in and she swiftly dodged and set herself up in a stance to counterattack. Fortunately for Lind this ambush would not bite at her a second time. The surprise attack came from only a couple of books._

"_Please forgive me for that Lind." A familiar voice called out. Looking up was Celveria floating above the door and looking through some more books. "These books are crammed so tightly together that grabbing one causes a couple others to fall. I need expand this place again soon. Good reflex though. It seems our training together has paid off in dividends." Celveria told Lind proudly as she floated down to greet her guest with something besides an ambush of books._

_Lind dug around in her pocket and produced a folded up letter. "I got your message mistress."_

_Celveria seemed relieved as she took the note away and with her magic incinerated it from within her hands. "Come let's talk." Celveria sat down behind her desk in the chair and Lind sat floating in the air on her own on the other side of the desk._

"_I am somewhat confused though mistress. Why send for me in such an archaic manner. We have better ways to contact one another than by means of paper." Lind asked. Not bothering to mask her confusion._

"_I wanted to give you this Lind. You've been working hard and I wanted to award you this personally." Celveria opened a drawer in her desk and produced a keycard looking item and a badge made of silver. It was crafted in the form of two angels wings crafted together. She handed both to Lind. "Congratulations Lind. You are now officially one of us. That is your new license; it denotes your position within the Valkyries as an established member. I've already taken the liberty to update your status within Yggdrasil's mainframe._

_Lind was ecstatic. She could barely contain herself, but was still very confused. "I am very pleased but, that still doesn't explain the secretive method you used to contact me." Lind said as she attached the badge to her _shoulder.

_Celveria stared at Lind for a moment before she set down the book she had fetched moments ago. There is something important I wanted to speak to you about. The reason for using paper is I didn't want any unwanted guests ease dropping on what I am about to tell you." Celveria said. Never had Lind seen her so serious, even when fighting with the demons so Lind gave Celveria her full attention._

"_What is it I should know?" Lind asked. Now she looked at her mentor nervously._

"_Breakfast is ready." Celveria told. The pitch of her voice changed drastically._

_Xxxxx_

Lind's face scrunched up as is torn out of her dream. "Please wake up Lind. Breakfast is ready." Lind slowly rose up and looked about rubbing her eyes. As her vision cleared she noticed Belldandy was in her room wearing a green dress with a brown apron over it. In her hands was a Spatula. Belldandy still looking very troubled but at least she was out and about, talking again.

"Thank you Belldandy. I will be right there." Belldandy gave a nod and a quick smile before leaving Lind in the room. Lind got up and opened her nearly empty clothes closet and uncovered a velvet fabric gift box hidden under a loose floorboard. Opening it revealed the same silver wings Celveria had given to her. Once she was satisfied seeing them again she returned to her hiding spot. A few tears fell from Lind's eyes remembering her mentor.

Arriving in the kitchen she noticed Belldandy having her share of rice curry. Lind fixed her share and sat down next Belldandy. The two ate quietly, neither looked to the other. The tension caused from the discovery yesterday still fresh in both of their minds. Shortly afterwards Keiichi walked in rubbing the top of his head with a towel.

"Good morning Keiichi-san." Belldandy told in her usual cheerful manner. Then she got up to lay down his breakfast plate.

Keiichi sat down across from Lind. He looked seriously towards Lind. "What is it?" Lind asked firmly. She gave him that I'm going to slap you for staring again face.

"Last night, a-another person was found in the same state as the couple." Belldandy gasped and looked as if she were about to cry. Lind looked out the kitchen window towards the clouds. "This is the third time this has happened. When is it going to stop?"

Lind took another bite of her breakfast then set her utensils down. "When was the attack? Did the reports mention?"

"It happened around the same time as the first two incidents." Keiichi told. "I don't believe anything will have changed from then. Going to there again would be a waste of all our time." Lind paused and thought hard about the trio's next move. "We should go anyway to be sure. I assume that there are there records on the victims on we can view?"

Keiichi looked puzzled. "Well sure, yeah. The police will probably have them on record since they are all victims with something in common. All we need to do is look at the investigation file. But the police just won't give us the papers though."

"That won't be a problem. I can just take the files." Lind said simply. Then she took another bite of her curry. Keiichi just let his head fall onto the table in defeat. "Today will be a busy day for us all. We will have to divide up the tasks. Belldandy do you think you can get yourself and I admitted into NIT?"

Belldandy smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'll be happy to help." The warmth back in her voice again.

"_I guess she really is the best when granting wishes. She seems to be the happiest then."_ Keiichi noticed as he lifted his head back up to see her reaction. He scribbled some info on a scrap of paper and handed it to Belldandy. "You can find Tamiya and Otaki with that. They should be willing to help you if you explain you are staying with me also and want to get admitted to NIT. Those two should be eager to help you and probably show you the campus.

Belldandy accepted it blushing. "Thank you Keiichi-san. I'm sure it will be very wonderful learning with both you and Lind."

"_I wonder how things are taught in heaven." _Keiichi wondered randomly. Hearing his thoughts earned Keiichi an odd stare from Lind. He just rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Never mind it was a silly thought." Lind went back to finishing her breakfast.

After putting her plate in the sink Lind turned to Keiichi. "We might as well go visit the most recent scene while Belldandy goes to Nekomi."

This made Keiichi nervous. Sneaking into a crime scene once was bad enough. Going a second time is a bit excessive. "Are you sure that's a good idea. I mean you said yourself there probably will not be anything different to see." "What if… What if whatever is causing this realizes were tracking it and comes for us." Keiichi worried.

"Don't worry, I will not let the one responsible near you Keiichi. I swear to you." Lind said boldly. This helped quell a lot of Keiichi's fears and made him feel shy suddenly. "Well a-alright then." He said scratching the side of his face. Lind nodded.

"We will see you later in the evening Belldandy. Let's get going Keiichi." Lind commanded and being the good soldier he was Keiichi quickly finished what was left on his plate and ran out after her Belldandy watched the pair drive off while standing atop of the temple roof. She wished both of them good luck as they left her sight. Afterward she left to go to Nekomi via the mirror in the bathroom.

Xxxxx

Within Nekomi Sayoko is found in the women's bathroom fixing her hair when the mirror in front of her erupted in a flash of light. Belldandy stepped down in front of her. Sayoko looking terrified stepped backward. "Y-You? W-what was that? How did you appear like that?" Sayoko wondered while pointing at Belldandy. Her arm shook uncontrollably from what had just transpired.

Belldandy looked to Sayoko and smiled intently. "Hello there. I came here to enroll in NIT. Would you be kind enough to tell me where can I find Tamiya and Otaki?" Sayoko's knees gave way and she fell to the ground. The self proclaimed queen of the campus too shocked for words just starred and stuttered. Her mind is desperately searching for a logical explanation for how a person is able to pop out of an object. "Oh my! You're going to catch a cold sitting on the tile floor." Belldandy told Sayoko sounding truly concerned. Sayoko just fainted to this causing Belldandy to shout with worry. The shout startled a few birds away and made a few passing students stop in curiosity.

Belldandy levitated Sayoko of the floor and with a few well placed words found herself inside Sayoko's apartment. Belldandy levitated her new friend to her bed and covered her up. Satisfied with her good deed Belldandy returned to NIT the same way she had the first time. As the glow from the room faded Sayoko showed signs of waking up.

Belldandy was then was able to find Tamiya and Otaki. A few hours later after starting the ground work for a new fan club in her honor as several single men followed her like love sick puppies begging for scraps. Being Belldandy she stopped to greet each with a smile and a few words of encouragement.

Arriving at the Motor club she discovered Tamiya and Otaki looking over a race car that looked like it was built of spare parts. None of the decals or paint matched anywhere around the frame of the car. "That bastard Morisato! He could not pick another day to stay at home with his girlfriends!" Tamiya shouted up in the air.

Otaki heard Belldandy walking up to them and turned to greet her. "Den-Chan looky here. It's girlfriend number two." Tamiya turned to and greeted her.

"I'm a Girlfriend?" Belldandy wondered. "You seem to have mistaken, I am not a girlfriend but a goddess." The two seniors stared blankly at her for a moment. "It is a pleasure to meet you both again so soon." Belldandy greeted them both warmly and the two boys shared a laugh about that and a few jokes about her being Sayoko's new likely rival. This outburst made Belldandy look slightly uncomfortable. "Can you help me please?" She asked holding her hands up in a prayer like manner. "Keiichi would like to have both Lind and I admitted into the school."

Tamiya and Otaki both grinned mischievously at this. "Sure we can help you out. Just leave everything to us miss." Tamiya said loudly and flexed a bit at her. Belldandy smiled joyfully at him for his help. Little did she know the trouble that was brewing in the minds of the seniors.

Otaki escorted Belldandy to the dean and along the way thought up the story that she is a transfer student. She is being transferred here on family matters within Nekomi. The dean seemed to like Belldandy as did the campus mascot. Convincing him was the easy part the difficulty was the professors, one in particular that seemed to be under Sayoko's influence. He was especially stubborn about finding out about Belldandy. He tried to look her up online feeling she could cause problems on campus for Sayoko. Tamiya countered this by paying a visit to the dean's office while he was with Otaki and Belldandy. After the professors plan failed to work Bell and Otaki returned to the club and Otaki joined in on the fun. When the stubborn professor searched through written documentation of the transfer Otaki set up a silent running fan in the window blowing the papers all over. Lastly when same said professor tried to look Belldandy up in the school book records the two seniors glued the book shut. Both of them smiling from ear to ear, watching as he tried to pry the book open. After a book shelf was dropped on him thanks to Tamiya he threw in the towel.

"Here you are ma'am, this is for you. It's the student ids for yourself and your friend. L-Lind I believe it was." The dean said in front of the motor club where the seniors plus Belldandy were waiting.

Belldandy graciously took the ID cards from him and saw both her and Lind's face on their respect cards. She smiled warmly at the dean and bowed. "Thank you for this. I know Lind will be pleased to know she can attend your wonderful school." She said warmly that managed to put small blushes on all the guy's faces present. The dean left shortly afterwards. "Thank you both also for your help. You both are so very kind to help me." Bell told them smiling, her eyes shut and her face cheerful.

The two just laughed it off. "Anything to get two lovely girls to join the motor club" the two cheered. This left a confused Belldandy standing in front of them. She was not sure when she signed up for the club but she thought she might as well give it a try. It could be fun she thought and she liked the people in it. She got a good, warm feeling from them despite their love for pranks. She didn't need goddess powers to know when things were serious these two could be relied on.

"Thank you for your help again. I look forward to seeing you again." Belldandy bowed and started to leave when Otaki's stomach growled. Belldandy turned back around to see him blushing.

"Would the transfer student stay for a meal with the seniors of the motor club?" Otaki said, trying to acting as cool as possible for their newest member. The second growl from Tamiya blew any chances of that desperate attempt from succeeding.

Belldandy nodded sweetly. Immediately seeing this, the two seniors besieged her with ideas on what they should make together.

Xxxxx

Looking around the latest victim's room. They discovered she was a single female. Keiichi recognized her as a student from NIT but not familiar enough with her to know her name or what she studied. Lind searched the person for any clues that might have been left behind accidently.

"It seems nothing has changed from last time. Let's go Lind." Keiichi said. "We have been here for about thirty minutes now if something were here for us I think we might have discovered it by now don't you think? Lind nodded and was about to leave. It was then she noticed they were looking in all the wrong places. Sticking out of one of the dresser drawers by the door was a sheet of paper. Lind took it and Keiichi moved close behind Lind to see it also. "It's just some weird drawing. Maybe she scribbled it when she was waiting on something?"

Lind shook her head. "It's our language. What we use in heaven." Lind told him.

"Well what does it say then?" Keiichi wondered as Lind folded up the paper.

"Loosely translated it reads "they are false." Lind told as she tied the paper to a textbook with a rubber band and tossed it out the window of the bedroom to retrieve it later when she and Keiichi were returned to their original bodies.

The two left the scene and returned to their normal selves and they looked for the book. Keiichi pointed up in a tree where the book found itself being held up by some sturdy branches. Lind just held her hand open in its direction and the book rattled to life then flew to Lind's hand swiftly.

"You're really amazing Lind." Keiichi told enthusiastically. "You seem to be able to do anything with your magic."

Lind just shrugged. "That was only a basic telekinetic pull. It's nothing special." She walked away to the motorcycle. "Come on Keiichi. We visit these people's records next from the police."

"_Guess living with those powers for so long kinda ruins the joy in it." _Keiichi thought as he started off towards the police department. From the side car Lind wondered why such a simple skill was so important to him.

Xxxxx

Keiichi arrived at the station as the sun set and the streets dark and empty. The two got out and made their way to the front door and Keiichi tried to open them. "Your timing is spot on Keiichi-san. We can more around easier if there are fewer people to contend with." Lind scouted the area and found a side door used for delivery trucks. "We can get in from over there." Lind ran over to the shutters and Keiichi followed. Lind looked at Keiichi impatiently.

"What is it? He asked as he stood beside her. "I'm unfamiliar with earth realm technologies. I need you to open the doors for me."

Lind told with shifty eyes. "Oh right! Sorry." Keiichi tried to open the shutters, finding they were locked. Nearby he found a normal door for people but that was also pad locked from the outside. "This is locked also." Keiichi told happily. "Looks like we can't get in. Let's go…" Lind grabbed the pad lock and with one strong tug, pulled the item right off of the door. "…Home." Lind stood proudly at the door and herded him inside. He went reluctantly. His head and arms hanging lowly. Inside the two walked down a hallway to an open doorway.

Lind peeked around the corner and saw most of the desks were unoccupied. The only person in the station still is sound asleep. "You people from the earth realm sure have lax security." She whispered to Keiichi as she moved quietly past the man. The two came to a filing room. Keiichi went to the metal filing cabinet while Lind shut the door and looked out for him.

"Your needed here again Lind." Keiichi said as he pointed to the lock. She smirked and with a good whack with the palm of her hand she broke the lock. It fell inside the cabinet with a loud thud. Keiichi and Lind both stopped moving when both noticed the man sleeping woke up from the sound. Lind climbed up on the cabinet boxes and into the ceiling through an air duct. She turned around to grab his hand to lift him in but in his panic Keiichi hid behind where the door would be when it opened soon by the approaching officer.

Lind sighed and tried to signal him over but he shook his head no as she tried to wave him over to her. "That's just not smart Keiichi-san!" Lind told him as the officer entered the room Lind moved herself away from his line of sight. Lind waited and it didn't take long for her to hear that Keiichi has been discovered. Lind cursed under her breath and left the vents she entered another room. Immediately she noticed a red box like object labeled "fire alarm" on the wall smiling in mischief she pulled it. The person who discovered Keiichi left to find out who pulled started the alarm and the sprinklers flooded the floor of the department. Keiichi left out of the side door in the confusion as a few other people working scrambled to save what they could manage from the water. Lind went up to the roof through the vent, her foot disappearing within just as the lone officer arrived to find the activated alarm. When she made her way back outside and down she found Keiichi by the bike, he was soaked from the sprinklers.

"You just had to turn this into more trouble than it should have been didn't you?" Keiichi asked grumpily as he rung out his shirt in the middle of the street. "Thanks to you they saw me. I swear these activities of yours are going to get me tossed in the slammer one day."

"Where's the joy of it all without a bit of excitement and risk?" Lind told as she sat down in the side car. "That's easy for you to say. You have magic to fall back on when you're in trouble!" Keiichi complained.

"Your complaining is really becoming troublesome. Look on the bright side Keiichi-san. I didn't use magic either. Besides I didn't have to incapacitate anyone this time. Were both getting better at sneaking around. Next time though do select a better hiding position. Do that and we might have of been able to retrieve the files we came for next time." Lind lectured.

Keiichi smiled at her. "Who says we didn't?" Lind raised an eyebrow at him. "I have them." Keiichi showed the four folders to her. "There a bit wet from your stunt with the fire alarm so next time do select a better way of causing a distraction." Keiichi mocked.

"Not bad Keiichi-san. Not bad at all. There might be hope for you after all." Lind told him encouragingly. "We might be able to get your confidence up after all."

Keiichi nodded as he started up the motorcycle. "Of course. I don't want to lose to you every time after all." Lind nodded approvingly to him. He reminded her of her younger self. Back when she had to prove herself to everyone within heaven and her fellow Valkyries given her handicap.

Lind smirked, deciding to have some fun with him on the drive home. "Well since you find my distractions so lacking. Perhaps next time then I will fall back on knocking people out hmmm." She watched Keiichi's reaction and since he was driving it was a bit delayed.

"NO! I take it back Lind! You did great. Please don't go attacking people so often again." Keiichi begged as he drove on. Now distracted from the road.

"Keiichi watch what you're doing! You nearly went off the road!" Lind told rather calmly considering the situation. This triggered an argument back and forth the entire way back towards the temple but Keiichi didn't let slip the slight panic in Lind's voice when he nearly got seriously hurt. It's now he discovered that the arguments and harsh words are Lind's twisted version of compassion and friendship. She was hard on him because she is simply worried for him. She is just trying to protect him from what she had to endure.

Xxxxx

After Belldandy shared her cooking with the two seniors they both were lying down on the floor; both of them too full to even move anymore. "Oh my. It seems in our fun together we all have forgotten the time of day." Otaki looked outside and noticed it was dark outside.

"Come back anytime, a-and bring Lind to see us sometime soon also." Tamiya said blushing very much. Belldandy nodded and left. This made pranksters happy. In some ways Lind reminded them both of Chihiro. The two girls had a similar rough, yet caring personality that they both admired and loved very much. Then to offset this Belldandy would be the wallflower of the motor club. Their mascot, she would be the one to attract people and popularity with her caring and trusting personality.

Belldandy made her way to the nearest mirror under the cover of the dark night sky and looked about. Seeing the coast was clear and the seniors at the club could not observe her she jumped into the object and made her way back to the temple.

Xxxxx

Belldandy arrived at the temple shortly after Lind and Keiichi. Appearing from a mirror from within the kitchen she was greeted by Lind. "Welcome home. I had not expected you to take so long to get us both admitted to NIT. Did everything work out?"

Belldandy smiled. "Yes. After our success Tamiya, Otaki, and I shared some food together in celebration. We lost ourselves in the festivities." Belldandy bowed. "I apologize if I worried you." Belldandy offered Lind her ID card.

"Don't worry about it. Keiichi and I were worried somewhat. It is good to know our fears are not needed." Lind said while taking a quick glance of her ID card then pocketed it in her jeans."

"Where is Keiichi-san Lind?" Belldandy asked. Lind blushed a bit. "He's in the bath warming up from what happened at the police station. Wet clothing, night time, and the wind from the motor cycle ride home gave him a case of the chills." Belldandy looked worried hearing the story. "Don't ask. It has been a tough day."

"Maybe I should check on him then." Belldandy started to leave to go check in on him.

Lind grabbed her gently around the wrist. Lind blushed even more. "That wouldn't be wise. He's not dressed Belldandy." Hearing this made Belldandy just as red as Lind. "I suppose your right Lind. Goodnight."She turned and went to her room and Lind with the four files on the victims and the note found at the third scene went to her own room to try and piece together what she could so far with what she had.

Xxxxx

* * *

Author thanks:

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

Another Duck, GraysonPaladin, major wallace, BrazeRancor, Kaiser969, The Mad shoe1, Meatloaf232, jboy804

For those who liked my story enough to put it on alert.

Another Duck, Wolf07, Meatloaf232, Ellen Kuhfeld, Illusive Man, 00idiot, Fifth Horseman, pegp

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

ViciousDraco, Wolf07, Apokryphos, Fic Hunter, Illusive Man, 00idiot, jboy804

Thanks to the one who added me to author alert.

Wolf07

For the two that added me to favorite author list.

Wolf07, Apokryphos

To the only one who added me to story favorite this time

jboy804

And to my two amazingly awesome beta readers.

Mjnousak, "Bob"


	5. Ah! The queen's schemes!

"_Thank you agreeing to meet me Lind. I wanted to speak of you of your performance in your first battle." Celveria said while sitting down. "How did you feel about it?"_

_Lind looked curiously but sat besides Celveria. "I was told I had fought well for my first large scale battle, better than most apprentices."_

"_Who told you that? It's true you won many fights but I am curious. Why you decided to enlist with the silver wings." Celveria said while looking concerned._

"_That's simple, I joined for power. To increase my_ _own strength to better myself. What does this have to do with my how I fought in my first battle?"_

"_It has to do with everything about you're fighting." Celveria sighed and looked away from Lind while looking disappointed. "I want you to resign, leave the silver wings and don't return. You're not fit to be within this organization and I have no use for someone of your mentality within my unit."_

"_Mistress, how can you say that? My results speak for its self. I performed better than some officers yourself included. So how can you ask this after seeing this?" Lind demanded._

"_I won't deny the numbers you defeated, however you're too reckless. You fight as if you have nothing to lose. As long as you think and fight this way I'll have nothing to do with you. If you won't leave you I'll begin to alienate you from the unit until you're forced to resign."_

"_That's not fair! You're just jealous of me. I've seen your personnel doll, __you're weaker then I am. You're just afraid I might show you up within the unit!" Lind shouted angrily._

"_What a naïve child you are Lind." Celveria stood up and walked away some distance then turned around and made her sword appear within her hand. "There is more to fighting __than what those silly dolls show. Arm yourself Lind; Here's your chance to show me up."_

_Lind nodded and smiled confidently while her pole axe appeared in her hands. "This will be an easy victory. When you're ready to spar let me know!" Lind told._

"_Forget the sparing rules Lind, strike at me as though I were a demon. Strike to kill me." Celveria instructed._

_Lind Looked on confused and was showing on her face. "Wait, why…?" Lind was interrupted as Celveria quickly closed the distance between the two of them and swung her sword at Lind forcing her to block and put into a defensive stance, Celveria's sword edge mere inches from Lind's face. Lind was able to push Celveria back rather easily once she no longer shocked. "What was that about! You struck as though you are trying to actually going to kill me!"_

"_I told you not to hold back." Celveria said as she attacked again and again. Lind was barely able to keep up on the defensive simply blocking the blows was proving quite the challenge, Lind's weapon being more cumbersome to wield and attack with. "I thought you were going to show me up. What's wrong Lind?"_

"_This isn't good, I need to make an opening in her attacks." Lind though while noticing Celveria setting herself up to stab at Lind. "There!" Lind hit the edge of her opponent's sword and __knocked it away leaving an opening for Lind to strike. With the pole end of her weapon Lind struck at Celveria thinking for sure she had won. Celveria caught the pole, both Valkyries could hear a few bones in Celveria's hand fracture causing her to cry out in pain. Lind tried to pull her weapon away. Despite her injured hand Celveria held onto Lind's weapon firmly. Celveria stepped in closer to Lind and slammed into her apprentice with her shoulder, causing Lind to flinch. While she stumbled backward, Celveria then disarmed Lind while tripping her, causing Lind to fall on her backside. Celveria straddled Lind before she had a chance to get up and pointed the tip of her sword at Lind's neck. "Impossible! How can I have lost? I am better then you! The personnel dolls say so." Lind shouted, unable to accept what just occurred._

"_There's more to combat when what some idiotic, soulless dolls show us. It's not just about dolls; it's not just about the punch you didn't land or the kick that didn't connect. The best Valkyries do not concern themselves with these trivial matters. A battle is more than just physical fights; while you trade blows and spells with a demon you also combat yourself within your own mind. You fight for the wrong reasons, you think only of yourself. That is partly why you are reckless on the battlefield. You showed no regard for your sister Valkyries. You fight to kill, I fight to live. That is the difference between us, that's why you can never win against me as you currently are." Celveria said then got up off Lind. "Do not join my unit again until you find something, someone worth fighting for, something greater than your own selfish desires. See me again when you think you understand what I've told you or do not return at all." Celveria told then disappeared while walking away from Lind, leaving her on the ground._

_Lind looked at her pole axe on the ground beside her as she sat up, ground her teeth together she furiously slammed her fist on the ground._

_Xxxxx_

"Miss Lind!" The professor shouted out. Belldandy and Keiichi both looked to her worried as Lind woke up and looked around in a slight haze. "Since you find it alright to sleep during the class, perhaps I can interest you to translate this German text. And if you fail, a quiz for the entire class. The professor turned around and begun writing on the board while the class stared at Lind annoyed.

From the back of the classroom Sayoko watched with a special interest. "_Finally, that girl will gets knocked down a rung on the social ladder and with her looking bad perhaps so will Belldandy when she gets this wrong. I'll secure my position as campus queen yet. No one gets away with sleeping in this class without being embarrassed with some tough translation._" Sayoko thought as the professor turned backaround and revealed the passage he had written.

_Erlöse mich, o Herr, vom ewigen Tod an jenem furchtbaren Tag, __  
__wenn der Himmel und die Erde bewegt werden müssen, __  
__wenn du kommst, die Welt durch Feuer zu richten. __  
__Ich machte zu zittern, und ich fürchte, bis das Urteil auf uns, und dem kommenden Zorn, __  
__wenn der Himmel und die Erde bewegt werden muss. __  
__An diesem Tag, Tag des Zornes, Jammer und Elend, Tag der großen und mehr als Bitterkeit, __  
__wenn du kommst, die Welt durch Feuer zu richten. __  
__Die ewige Ruhe gib ihnen, o Herr: und das ewige Licht leuchte ihnen._

Lind read over the passage, nodding occasionally while doing so.

_Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day,_

_when the heavens and the earth shall be moved,_

_when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire._

_I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath,_

_when the heavens and the earth shall be moved._

_That day, day of wrath, calamity, and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness,_

_when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire._

_Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them._

"The text is the lyrics to _Libera Me_. A Roman Catholic responsory that is sung in the Office of the Dead and at the absolution of the dead, a service of prayers for the dead said by the coffin immediately after the Requiem Mass and before burial." Lind said.

The entire class, the professor included; starred awe struck at Lind. "W-well done." He complimented unexpectedly and the class clapped while Lind sat back down looking uninterested.

From the back of the classroom Sayoko just watched the scene play out. "_Well played, this might be more entertaining than I had first imagined. It will only make my inevitable victory all that more satisfying."_

Xxxxx

Sayoko looked down at the silver Piguet's Lady Royal Oak watch. She looked annoyed while the seconds ticked by. "_He's late! What could be holding him up?"_ Sayoko wondered forced to wait several more minutes until she heard the footsteps of a small crowd of women following and listening intently at whatever it was Aoshima was telling them as he continued onward. "There you are! What took you so long? I've been waiting for you and you have not answered your cell phone." Sayoko berated and the women around Aoshima looked a bit defensive by his cousin's outburst.

He adjusted his glasses while smiling. "It's not like you to seek me out. What possibly could have been bothering you enough to find me? You're not the type to ask for help often."

"Belldandy, not just her but Lind as well. Both of them have become a real sour note for me on the campus." Sayoko told him.

"I see, but this has nothing to do with me." Aoshima began to walk away.

"That's a shame. Lind and Belldandy are quite cute in the face. But you're right; it has nothing to do with you. Sorry to have bothered you." Sayoko walked passed Aoshima and smiled.

"What do you have in mind?" Aoshima asked much to the disappointment of the girls standing around him.

Sayoko turned back to face him. "I have a car waiting for us in the parking lot. I'll explain there while we are driven home." Aoshima nodded and left the girls alone without a second thought, watching the two leave.

Xxxxx

The next morning as Keiichi and Lind ran together they were watched by Aoshima and Sayoko from afar. He was especially interested in Lind. "Well she is definitely attractive, she also appears to be quite the ruffian when she needs to be. Still I like a challenge from time to time." He noted she hardly seemed fatigued after so much running.

"So does this mean you'll co-operate then?" Sayoko asked him while he continued to spy Lind though binoculars.

"It could be interesting. If you think you can win in the contest then go ahead and challenge them, it's your reputation at risk here, not mine." Aoshima said while walking back to his car. "Just focus on winning the contest, it should make Morisato realize there are better potential women out there. That will put down the girls and at the same time put a rift between Keiichi and the two of them. When they are feeling heartbroken from the rejection then I'll sweep them off their feet."

Xxxxx

Keiichi, Lind and Belldandy walked out of a classroom together when they were stopped by Sayoko.

"Hello there Keiichi and Belldandy, ah and Lind too. I nearly missed you from back there." Sayoko said while walking up to the group. She handed Lind and Belldandy fliers. "Tomorrow is the annual Miss NIT swimsuit contest. It would be fun to have both of you joining in on the event. Most of the student body will be there to enter or observe."

Keiichi had a feeling Sayoko was only interested in showing the girls up but did not wish to spoil this for Belldandy, seeing how happy she seemed about this by her smile. She nodded and agreed immediately; she always a firm believer of the saying 'the more the merrier.' A turnout this large was definitely an enticing plus to her. "I'd love to go, won't you be joining us also Lind?"

Lind looked uninterested and handed the flier to the first girl that passed by her. "I'm not interested; I don't have anything to prove to the students here, or you Sayoko."

"I can't really blame you, after all given your rough personality I doubt you'd have a chance to win anyhow. I'd also worry about losing. I am the campus queen after all." Sayoko said to Lind.

" Don't think I am unaware of what you're doing. If that's how you want it, then I'll enter. I don't intend to win, I'll settle with just scoring better than you." Lind said while grabbing Keiichi by the arm. "Let's get going."

"Where are we going, we have classes to go to still." He complained while being dragged away.

"Today's mission objectives have shifted, now we must procure a swimsuit." Lind replied.

Belldandy bowed to Sayoko. "Thank you for the invitation." She turned and ran off after Lind and Keiichi. "Wait for me please. I would like to go shopping."

Xxxxx

Keiichi walked in a slouch, his arms weighed down by overflowing bags as Lind and Belldandy went from store to store. "Why must I carry ALL the bags? Not to mention all the weird stares I get while waiting on you two to decide on a swimsuit, only to purchase everything you tried afterwards. This must be considered cruel and unusual punishment. I feel like a slave." He put the bags down when Lind signaled him to stop for a moment while the two girls entered another shop.

"Just the price you pay to entertain your lovely looking girlfriend." A stranger with a feminine voice said to Keiichi in a while walking by.

"Girlfriend…?" Keiichi got an image of Lind stomping on his back if he thought that around her. "Oh no! You've got the…" The one that spoke to Keiichi had already disappeared within the crowd. "Wrong idea…" "_Lind wouldn't think of me in that way anyhow, she could probably be with anyone she wanted here, what chance do I have?"_

Belldandy returned and was about to offer to hold some when Lind pointed out to another swimsuit store. "Let's review this stores inventory." Lind said. "They might have something different."

"Sure. I am sure this store has many cute swimsuits as well." Belldandy said as the two moved ahead slightly faster.

"Ignored, I should have known…"Keiichi sighed to himself while picking the bags back up and ran to catch up.

When Keiichi entered the store he asked the lady behind the cash register to look after the bags for him. Then went to find the girls, who had already had begun trying swimsuits on.

"What do you think of this one Keiichi?" Lind asked as she stepped out of a changing room. She was wearing a full body suit that was made more for deep sea exploration or extreme water sports than modeling for a swimsuit contest. It was full of designs. But not expected for what she signed up for.

"It reminds you of your Valkyrie uniform doesn't it?" Keiichi asked. Lind nodded and looked at him curiously hearing his thoughts. "Have all the things you purchased been full body suits?" Again Lind nodded yes. "I thought so…" Keiichi went over to the racks and grabbed a few items that seemed to pop out at him. He showed her a two piece that is much closer to what the audience would expect.

Lind looked at the items Keiichi had for a moment then went and retrieved many items similar to what he had shown her. She asked his opinion on each and every piece she tried on. She tried on a variety of swimsuits. Some were one piece tops, others were not. She selected a variety of colors and designs in all shapes and forms. Some too revealing, giving Keiichi a small noise bleed and others that didn't show enough and made Keiichi feel bored and uninterested. This continued for several hours, during which Keiichi sat against the wall while Lind and Belldandy continued trying on new items. Belldandy would ask him, while Lind just stood in front of him then went back to the changing room, hearing his honest answer from his thoughts.

"Excuse me but the store will be closing soon." The cashier said as she began to clean up. Looking at the time Keiichi noted it was well past 7 pm.

Lind came out and was wearing a pink and black two piece that looked sport like, however still was able to show and compliment her finer features nicely. Keiichi found himself staring. "I like that one!" Keiichi finally said just as Lind was getting ready to slap him when he stared. She stopped herself, feeling unusually good for reasons she was uncertain of.

"I think I'll buy this one ma'am." Lind said to the lady behind the cashier while she looked at herself some more in front of a mirror approvingly.

"Finally we get to go back home." Lind heard Keiichi's say from inside the changing room as she hung the suit back on the hanger, she passed it to Keiichi through the curtain so he could buy it while she got dressed into her normal attire.

Xxxxx

Keiichi joined the crowd of boys that stood around a stage. One by one the girls competing in the Miss NIT were asked to come out, show the crowd their swimwear then sing a song for the crowd. Sayoko came out and sang her song then it was Lind's turn, she went onto the stage and when the song she was to sing didn't play the staff opened up the Karaoke machine and found the electronics and wiring frozen solid.

Belldandy followed Lind onstage wearing a light blue maillot. "Lind, why did you do that?" She asked through the microphone as the ones hosting the event frantically tried various methods to de-thaw the equipment.

Lind looked a bit ashamed, "Singing isn't exactly one of my strong points." Belldandy said a few unusual words and the ice melted away.

This display didn't go unnoticed by Aoshima or Sayoko. Aoshima adjusted his glasses. "_What unusual people. Are they magicians or something? We need to look into this more." _ When Sayoko looked to him he signaled he was cancelling the plan until they knew more. Reluctantly Sayoko nodded, knowing she would probably lose the contest now.

Once everything resumed as normal the votes came in, a girl besides Sayoko scored a 019. Sayoko managed a 053. Then Lind scored a 078. "Tch. Well least I achieved what I set out for." She said to herself now totally uninterested in the final results of the contest she looked for Keiichi in the crowd. When she spotted him she felt the strange desire to pose for him before she walked off the stage. Belldandy was declared the winner. She had managed to net herself 143 votes.

Xxxxx

After the contest the participants andtheir friends were allowed to join in some other festivities and drinking. Belldandy and Keiichi didn't drink much however Lind and Sayoko took turns drinking shots with each other till the other could not continue. Lind managed to keep her own rather well though Keiichi could tell each girl was rather intoxicated. In the end Sayoko was the first to become sick. Embarrassed by her second defeat, she stumbled out of the room.

Keiichi watched, wondering if Lind had ever gone drinking before with other Valkyries. "Say Lind, are you about ready to go."

Lind nodded. Both Keiichi and Lind stood. She stumbled nearly falling till Keiichi caught her. "Say Keiichi, did I ever tell you I like you, your kind and understanding, you always are kind and try to help those close to you. You and my mistress are very similar; she would have liked you a lot like I do." She said while leaning closer to him.

Keiichi smiled sadly at this. "That must be the alcohol talking. I doubt that's true. You can do so much better than me." He said while he got her back up on her feet.

"You're funny Keiichi." Lind giggled extremely out of her normal character and playfully slapped his shoulder, being hit from Lind she nearly knocked him over.

"_Yeah. Real funny_." Keiichi thought as he and Belldandy helped her to the motorcycle. Keiichi placed Lind into the side car, where she fell asleep, given her level of intoxication. As Keiichi began to drive out Sayoko stumbled out of the building and saw a can on the crosswalk, she mumbled incoherently while trying to kick it, missing horribly causing her to stumble. Keiichi shouted in a panic as he was about to hit her. Belldandy leaned towards Keiichi and using magic caused Sayoko to float in the air as Keiichi drove under her.

When Sayoko opened her eyes she noticed herself floating in the air, gently floating down to the ground. "_W-what happened? I'm flying? No, I can't be that would be…" _Sayoko started to fall asleep as she could barely make out the sounds of Belldandy and Keiichi's voices. As the two ran towards her, Sayoko blacked out.

Xxxxx

The next morning Sayoko woke up with a pounding headache, a pain the sunlight entering the room intensified. As she stood up she noticed a note on her fell to the floor. Looking at it she noticed '_take care_' written rather neatly on it. _"Belldandy. She must have brought me here._" Sayoko went to a mirror and noticed she was still in the same clothing she had on from the previous night. She remembered everything that had happened. "_That was not a dream. There really is more to those girls than meets the eye." _ After the normal morning activities Sayoko called Aoshima. "Meet me at NIT; go to your usual spots. I'll wait for you again. Yeah, see you then." Sayoko hung up and left her apartment.

Xxxxx

Sayoko sat at a bench and watched as the minutes pass by until Aoshima arrived. He sat down besides her. "So, what was so important this time?" Aoshima asked.

"Belldandy. What do you know about her? And Lind as well, if any of our plans are going to succeed we need to know what were up against." Sayoko said while she leaned back against the wall behind her. "We don't even know what country they come from, I thought some third world country or perhaps some place spiritual considering the markings on their faces."

"It's true there are many mysteries about those two. And yet you were there during the swimsuit contest. I don't need to tell you that even if they are from some land like that they are very intelligent, above that of a majority of people in a modern society. Not to mention the gifts they seem to possess. Lind froze that sound equipment with just a glance. It's definitely beyond that of any form of human intelligence." Aoshima said with folding his arms and thinking to himself.

"Your right about that, it's not normal It's almost as if they are not human." Sayoko added.

" Whoever or whatever they are I think we can agree we need to investigate this power they have. To do that we need to discover who they are first." Aoshima said.

"Belldandy's power huh?" Sayoko wondered as she looked down at the ground. "Your right, by discovering who she is the truth will be revealed... and who the real queen is." Sayoko said deviously while looking towards Aoshima.

"As long as our interests are the same, we should continue this truce of ours. After that it's back to normal." Aoshima said adjusting his glasses and Sayoko nodded.

Xxxxx

Keiichi, Lind and Belldandy walked together out of a classroom towards the motor club as they walked around Lind noticed several individuals staring at the group suspiciously as they walked. Each suddenly becoming busy in whatever it is they were pretending to do when Lind looked their way. Lind whispered to Belldandy and she nodded while she listened then bowed to Keiichi. "I'll return soon Keiichi-san, please go on without me, I'll catch up when I can."

"See you back at the temple if it takes longer than you expect." Belldandy nodded and walked away leaving Lind alone with Keiichi. The two continued on.

From behind trees some distance away Aoshima and Sayoko watched Keiichi and Lind. "Alright go on ahead." Sayoko said into a radio. From the soccer field a player kicked a soccer ball as hard as he could directly at Keiichi. Lind noticed the ball traveling towards Keiichi and stepped in front of him expertly and blocked it by creating a shield around her hand that repelled the ball away. Aoshima watched with a camera to record the scene playing out. Papers a professor nearby was holding flew freely from a strong gust of wind interrupting the two from actually seeing Lind use her magic. Sayoko sighed while she watched the man scramble to gather up his lose bits of paper.

As Keiichi and Lind turned a corner a man above the two dropped a bucket of water down on them. Once again Lind used her magic to cause the water to fall around the two of them instead of on them. When Aoshima and Sayoko tried to record this a flock of birds flew past preventing the display from being captured on the recorder. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" Sayoko shouted in frustration.

Standing in a tree above Sayoko and Aoshima was Belldandy. She smiled and looked down at the two as one of the birds landed down on her shoulder. "Thank you for your help little one, your very kind and sweet." The bird chirped back at her. This made Belldandy giggle as it flew off.

This time Sayoko and Aoshima watched as a vicious looking dog approached Lind and Keiichi. It was snarling and barking, as if it was about to attack. Lind turned towards it and the two stared each other down. Then Lind walked towards it calmly, yet firmly and the dog ran off yelping, it's tail between its legs. Keiichi relaxed as it ran around a corner and out of sight. "I thought for sure it was going to attack."

"We're larger than it, just don't let the dog feel empowered by your fears. Animals are sensitive to your energy and emotions, not unlike a god or goddess. They know what you're feeling and so act accordingly." Lind explained as she walked passed and the two made it to the Motor club finally. At a bench Sayoko and Aoshima watched from a far, looking defeated.

Xxxxx

Sayoko and Aoshima sat in a room watching what they recorded from an overhead projector. It showed clips of the papers and the close up they managed to get from the flock of birds. Sayoko screeched in frustration and stomped her foot on the ground. Aoshima just sat down and watched what little video they managed to obtain. "Obviously those two are on to our plan, it would explain why Belldandy split from Lind. It seemed out of the ordinary. We just need to take a more direct approach is all." Aoshima explained.

Sayoko thought about it for a bit. "We could try getting it out of Morisato, however that might be risky. If those two girls become angry with us, we might become targets ourselves."

"That is a possibility, but I think it's our only chance if we want to learn more about Lind and Belldandy. Besides, what's life without a little risk?" Aoshima asked. Sayoko though seemed reluctant but finally agreed.

Xxxxx

Lind and Keiichi were at the motor club wearing dark green mechanic uniforms. Keiichi was underneath an old Beatle while Tamiya and Otaki cheered Lind on as she easily moved around several large car parts without any help and lift several boxes at once. Just to show off Lind's abilities as people passed by. She spent most of her time following Tamiya's directions to move an engine from a large vehicle from one end of the club to the other, only to move it back to its original spot minutes later. When the seniors weren't showing her off Lind was under a car with Keiichi learning how to fix it with him. Thankfully for her she was not afraid of getting her hands dirty. It was one more thing Keiichi came to admire about Lind. "Morisato!" Tamiya came out of the room, Sora behind him. "A client has asked for you in particular to look over their car."

Keiichi looked towards Lind and she nodded. "Go Keiichi-san. I can finish up here." Keiichi nodded and he set down the needed tool besides Lind and took the rest with him and got up from underneath the car and left.

Keiichi looked around the front of the club and didn't see anyone around. He knew something was wrong. "Lin-" Keiichi shout was muffled by a much larger man that could easily rival Tamiya in stature grabbed Keiichi. He shoved him into the backseat of a car, than got in beside him. 'What's the meaning of all this!" Keiichi asked, trying to appear intimidating, like a kitten with its hair standing on end.

Sayoko turned in the front passenger seat to look back at him. "Relax; we just want to ask you a few questions. You answer them for us and we will let you go. That's fair enough, wouldn't you say?" She turned back around to face the front of the car.

"This really isn't necessary. You could have asked me from the front of the motor club." As he started to get out the car the driver hit the gas and sped off knocking Keiichi back into the seat. When he recovered he tried again the doors locked and was unable to open the doors. The monster of a man pulled Keiichi away from the doors when he tried to force open the lock. When Keiichi continued to struggle, the captor injected Keiichi with a drug, causing him to pass out.

Xxxxx

Lind tightened the last bolt, finishing her repair job. She rolled out from underneath the car and wiped her forehead then went for a glass of water to cool down while waiting for Keiichi to get back from his job. Five minutes went by, then after thirty minutes she started becoming antsy, looking for things to do on her own while waiting. After two hours Lind knew he should be done, or at least stopped by to tell he'd be gone for the rest of the day. Looking out at the front of the motor club she noticed the burned rubber wheel tracks and knew he was taken. "_What happened… the ultimate force didn't stop Keiichi from being separated from me."_ Worry setting in, Lind jumped up on the roof of the University to look for Belldandy. She spotted her in the garden singing. Around her were numerous students. Not caring about hiding her powers, Lind landed besides Belldandy.

"Ah Lind. Come join us, we were all just singing together." Belldandy said. Several that were watching agreed happily.

"Come join us." The group chorused.

Lind looked tempted for a moment but remembered why she had come. "That will have to wait; I need your help Belldandy, Keiichi was taken."

Belldandy nodded and waved to everyone in the crowd as the moaned in disapproval. "Thank you for listening; let's get together again another time to sing again." Belldandy went to catch up to Lind. "I don't understand Lind; the ultimate force should have prevented this."

Lind nodded as she walked on back towards the motor club. "I was under the same assumption that is why I let my guard down, it seems to have stopped functioning for whatever reason.

"I understand." Belldandy changed to her GRO clothing. She then began asking animals in the area if they had seen where Keiichi had been taken while Lind watched on. She was curious about Belldandy's unique ability to communicate with what seemed to be anything whether it be living or not.

Xxxxx

Keiichi woke with a splitting headache, tied up, and shirtless. He looked around and saw he was in a well furnished room. He tried to stand up when he realized then that his feet had been bound. This made an escape impossible for him. The camera in the corner told him whoever was watching him knew he was moving. Any chance for a surprise attack had been lost as well.

"Nice of you to join us finally Morisato." Sayoko said eerily while entering the room. She shut the door behind her and removed a jar from a brown paper bag. She then removed a variety of rare model cars.

"Where am I? And what did you bring me here for?" Keiichi asked while trying to sit upright, a challenging task for him being bound still.

Sayoko pushed him back onto his stomach and showed him the jar filled with slugs, snails and a variety of other slimy looking creatures. "Where you are is unimportant, I want to know about Lind and Belldandy. You can tell me where they come from for starters."

Keiichi looked at her oddly. "Go check the records at NIT if that's what you want to know." Keiichi yelled as he struggled to get free once again.

Sayoko looked down at him. "Well I figured you wouldn't give up what I want to know so easily so now you and I get to spend some quality time and have fun. Or I should say I'll be having fun that is." Sayoko went back to the jar and picked up a snail with pliers and walked over towards Keiichi.

Frantically Keiichi squirmed to get free. "Don't come near me with that!" Sayoko just smiled as she continued to walk towards him.

Xxxxx

Belldandy stopped at some trees and looked up and spoke to the birds in the trees, who replied back with a series of chirps while Lind watched intently. Both the goddesses totally ignorant of the odd stares people gave as they passed by with comments occasionally. "Thank you for your help once again. I'll bring you all some delicious seeds the next time we meet." Her winged friends chirped some more, this time even longer. Belldandy smiled and followed their directions. This process continued as Belldandy led Lind to meet a variety of animals. Dogs, cats, a family of squirrels, a fish in a pet shop bowl outside a window, even a hill of ants. They created their reply by forming an arrow with themselves.

"Any solid leads yet?" Lind asked getting more and more impatient and worried.

"The ants and fish both spoke of a well dressed couple that took Keiichi away in a large car. I believe it's a limousine." Belldandy said.

"A well dressed couple. It sounds like Sayoko and Aoshima. I didn't realize she was this petty to do this over losing the swimsuit contest." Lind thought to herself. "Where do the animals say they took him?" Belldandy shook her head not knowing. "I see, well let's keep searching for now." The two continued on towards their next clue.

Xxxxx

"Stop it! I told you all I know! They are just transfer students! Let me go!" Keiichi shouted. Crawling around his back was a variety of slimy creatures. "This is gross and it feels weird. Let me go Sayoko!"

"Where are Belldandy and Lind from?" Sayoko asked, now sounding frustrated.

"I already told you. My answer isn't going to change now matter how much you ask." Keiichi told her defiantly.

Sayoko stood up and set down the car models in front of Keiichi. Perhaps you need a different motivation to answer. Sayoko revealed a hammer and she slowly swung it up and down over the roof of the nearest model. "Tell me where they are from or I destroy what you cherish the most." Keiichi looked away and gave once again the same answer. He heard the sound of the hammer breaking the nicely crafted car model. He was crying inside as he heard it being destroyed with each and every swing. "I'll continue to break them until you give me the answer I want."

"D-Do your worst!" Keiichi shouted and watched on helplessly as one by one the cars were destroyed in front of him. Once the first set of cars was destroyed she set down a 1934 Ford 3-window Coupe car model. She taunted him with the hammer again.

"Stop it! Don't you know how much quality models like these are worth! They are antiques and should be treated as such!" Keiichi pleaded with Sayoko.

Sayoko looked offended and in her anger raised the hammer up as high as she could. "Once last chance! Tell me about Belldandy and Lind!"

"I won't betray them; I won't give up what you want to know." Keiichi shouted while staring up at Sayoko. "Break as many as you want, that will never change."

Sayoko looked genuinely surprised and lowered the hammer to her side without breaking the model. 'Why? What do they mean to you that you'd go through so much for them?" Sayoko asked him softly.

"Lind is a dear friend of mine." Keiichi looked away for a moment wishing Lind might see him as more. "I won't betray her by giving up her personal life and secrets. So you might as well go and break that model as well."

Sayoko just sighed and stood up. "Fine, but Aoshima will resort to other methods then." Sayoko left the room and shut the door behind her. Keiichi sighed in relief that the car was spared. After waiting for about twenty minutes Keiichi became nervous what was going on in the other room. Just as he started to fall asleep three ladies in bright, colorful and unusual shaped clothing entered the room holding whips and a variety of other dominatrix accessories and tools. The one in the front smiled and cracked the whip against the ground, causing a loud snapping sound. Keiichi looked at them nervously as the three began their turn to try getting the information out of Keiichi. "I need to see to other matters. Inform me when he's in a talking mood." Sayoko's voice echoed sadly through the room from speakers that sounded as if they were built into the walls of the room.

Xxxxx

Lind and Belldandy stopped at a fancy and expensive looking red sports car. On the hood was an orange cat laying contently. "They went inside there?" Belldandy asked the cat and it nodded at her. Both Lind and Belldandy gave thanks as they looked towards the building behind them. It looked like an abandoned factory. Inside they noticed most of the interior was laced with state of the art equipment.

There was a man reading a newspaper, sitting in front of the door to a rather large elevator. As the two goddesses in their heavenly attire approached the man heard their footsteps and went for a phone.

"No." Lind commanded as his hands just reached the phone. Lind brushed her leg with her right hand while she swung her hand upwards and towards the man as if she was motioning a throwing movement. The man on watch there looked at the phone with a throwing knife embedded in the device, mere centimeters from his fingers without actually cutting him. Lind continued walking towards him, not missing a beat after the attack.

He dropped the receiver and grabbed the baton attached to his belt and tried to look as intimidating as possible. Given what happened to the phone that proved difficult. "You girls shouldn't be in here!" The two continued on ignoring him. He swung the weapon at Belldandy, surprising her. Lind caught the blow with her right hand and spun him around and put him in a choke hold with it and escorted him into a nearby freight elevator.

"One of our friends is inside there and you're going to take us to him." Lind commanded angrily, with a look on her face matching her voice. She strangled him tighter for a moment to emphasize her point. "Understand?"

"Y-yeah." The man gasped out.

Lind shook him some. "I can't hear you."

"Yes!" he shouted as loud as he could manage. Lind let him go after Belldandy closed the gates to the elevator and Lind pushed the button to go downward to an underground level.

When the gates reopened Lind noticed a door nearby on the right as she tried to open it she found it locked. With one well placed kick Lind broke the door down, knocking it clear off the hinges. She entered a room with thick one way glass linked to another room. She saw Aoshima in the room, watching what was going on in the other room. Aoshima backed up nervously as Lind approached the glass and looked through to the other room. She saw Keiichi was being hit by the three girls with a variety of items. Nothing to inflict serious or permanent harm, though Lind saw from Keiichi's expressions that this experience was anything but pleasant.

Belldandy covered her mouth when she saw what was happening then pounded on the glass but it wouldn't break for her. "Keiichi!" She shouted and he looked towards the sounds of the banging. The leader of the three with Keiichi was about to hit Keiichi when Belldandy seemed to fly through the glass in slow motion and place a shield around Keiichi before was hit again.

Seeing Belldandy was now protecting Keiichi Lind turned her attention to Aoshima who was still in the room with her. She grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him down onto the ground. "What is the meaning of this?" Lind asked barely containing her anger. "What has Keiichi-san done to warrant such methods? I've tolerated you observing us, but this has gone too far. What are you after?"

"We want to know about you and Belldandy. That day at the swimsuit contest, we noticed you're your special little side show. We wanted to know more about you, you're both obviously more than human. It was just simple curiosity, nothing more." Aoshima explained fearfully.

"So you beat it out of him?" Lind shouted as she grabbed him again and got ready to strike Aoshima.

"No! No! This was only a last resort. We tried asking him with more civil methods but he wouldn't break. He wouldn't tell us anything. He kept quiet for both of you." Aoshima pleaded while covering his face with his arms.

Lind let go of Aoshima and looked through the glass again. She saw Belldandy smiling and hugging Keiichi who had now fallen asleep. Lind herself smiled at Keiichi. "_Thanks Keiichi." _She discovered a new respect and trust for him, going so far to keep her and Belldandy's abilities a secret. "Before you said we, I assume Sayoko was also here?" Lind asked still watching the glass in front of her. Aoshima nodded and Lind thought for a moment. _"Maybe some good can come of this after all._" "Leave." Lind commanded and Aoshima ran off screaming. Shortly afterwards Lind heard the sounds of the elevator being operated. Belldandy began to help Keiichi out of the room while Lind froze the glass and jumped through it, disappearing.

Xxxxx

Sayoko entered her apartment with some grocery bags, looking moderately fatigued. She set the bags down and turned the lights on. "Hello miss Mishima." Lind called out. She sat with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap wearing her Valkyrie uniform. "You and I need to talk."

"Is that so?" Sayoko picked up the bag besides her and walked over to the counter, still in sight of Lind and began removing the food inside and putting them away. "If you're here I can only assume you found Morisato... Good."

Lind looked at her intrigued. "It was never your intention to harm Keiichi was it."

Sayoko had to suppress a giggle remembering her part in this. "That's right; I just placed a few slimy snails and slugs on him and broke some model cars. Aoshima hired the bondage freaks. It was his decision to take things further. I was against it. Keiichi had won as far as I was concerned. He may be a cousin of mine, but he's the more devious of the two of us. He won't mind breaking a few eggs to get what he wants. It's why I don't associate with him often. He's a coward." Sayoko moved to the refrigerator and removed a bottle of wine and filled two glasses. She handed Lind one then sat across from her. Lind sniffed the drink and shook the glass a bit to move the wine around in the glass then had a sip, Sayoko followed her lead. "Keiichi is quite fixated towards you both, but especially you Lind." Lind raised an eyebrow to this. "Come on, you haven't noticed it? He has strong feelings for you; it doesn't take a genius to know this. He never broke, just shouted over and over that he wouldn't give up what he knew. It seems the feelings aren't returned."

Lind looked down for a moment then back to Sayoko. "They are, it just can't work between him and me, were too different. He's kind, trusting and understanding. I am cold calculating and fierce. I don't deserve someone like him."

Sayoko chuckled. "You're a fool too if you think personalities matter."

'There is also another large difference." Lind told sadly.

Sayoko held hand to Lind chest and felt her unusual fast heart beat. "What are you doing!" Lind moved back surprised.

"Your heart rate picks up when you think of him and I can tell you become nervous. That's all that matters. You should take a chance on it." Sayoko walked to the window and looked down at the people walking around, most towards home she could only assume as it was night outside. "Love is a hard thing to find, you shouldn't let a chance at it pass you by Lind."

Lind got up and stood besides Sayoko. "People view you differently don't they? Because of your families fortunes?" Sayoko nodded. Lind sighed. "I might regret this but… let's make a contract."

"What do you have in mind?" Sayoko asked.

"I will tell you all about Belldandy and myself as well as guard you against certain things out there and in exchange you must vow to protect Keiichi, Belldandy and myself from anyone that becomes interested in us as you have." Lind said. "You are familiar with people of this region and have friends in high places. You're the preferred person to go to despite your lapse of judgment today.

"Certain things out there? What kind of things?" Sayoko wondered feeling a bit disturbed now.

"Agree to my terms and I will answer all of your questions." Lind explained.

Sayoko sat back down and Lind followed, waiting as Sayoko considered the proposition. "Alright I agree. I wish to know about you, and in exchange I will protect your secrets from others who might try to discover them. I promise this."

Lind nodded and the three dots on her forehead glowed and a light shot up into the night sky. "Your wish has been granted Sayoko Mishima. As agreed I'll tell you everything, my name in Lind. I am an agent of the heavens. I serve the almighty, ruler of heaven as a Valkyrie. A female combat unit that is tasked with defending…"

Xxxxx

Keiichi woke up and looked around. He stood up and felt sore from the previous night. As he left his room Belldandy was not cooking breakfast. He noticed Lind was not up either. He looked about the temple but could not find her. He decided to wait for both in the kitchen.

"You seem unsure about your feelings for him?" Belldandy asked.

Lind nodded. "Is it love you mean? I don't know, even I wonder that. I just know I have a strong feeling for him. I think I will wait, let him decide. Whatever he decides I hope there will be no negative feelings from him if he already has another in his heart." Lind told sounding worried.

"There won't be. I promise." Belldandy said hugging Lind. This put Lind at ease some knowing she had Belldandy's support.

Lind came out of her room and hugged Keiichi. He blushed slightly. "This isn't like you Lind, what's wrong."

"Nothing at all." She let go of him and kissed his cheek turning him very red. Keiichi was in a daze while Lind smiled, feeling satisfied with herself at Keiichi's reaction. She grabbed his hand and began to lead him out the door. "Come on Keiichi! We still have to start our morning exercises, were running late."

Belldandy smiled knowingly as Keiichi complained while being dragged out of the temple. "_Finally she noticed, I knew she would_." Belldandy began to sing cheerfully as she checked the food. Then grabbed some bird food she had purchased in the feeding station she had bought with the food. She set it up in a nearby tree and watched as immediately several baby birds flew in. A fully grown bird landed on Belldandy's shoulder and chirped. She smiled as the two watched as a few more flew in. When Belldandy returned inside the temple, she passed Lind's room, the swimsuit Lind wore at the contest hanging in plain sight on a wall in her room.

* * *

Author notes.

First off I apologize for not updating in such a long time. I had originally written a chapter that was ready to be released then decided I jumped the gun on one major scene. So I created this chapter to better prepare the readers for the next one. So the next is ready to go, I'll wait a week to release it however to give you all something to look forward too. Also this story is not dead, like I mentioned before I've been busy and had less time to write but if for whatever reason I abandon this I'll make a notice of it. Otherwise it's just life getting in the way.

On a separate note I now allow anonymous reviews to see how it goes. Though again I ask you feel free to bash my story but give a legitimate reason please. Things like "y0ur story is teh suxx you plick" will be deleted and if I get too much of this its back to registered reviews only.

Author thanks.

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

Kaiser969, BrazeRancor, Another Duck, CodelyokoFan23, Darren Alston, mjnousak.

For those who liked my story enough to put it on alert.

Mjnousak, Arc-Angel-Of-Fire, piercing kage kitsune, CopyZero, Sub2, Baggot00.

MyLittlePwnies, cerokun, Illo Skevuld, Darren Alston, RPFarseer

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

Fifth Horseman, CodelyokoFan23, guesswho111, Tsedby, Sectoid, Pierre15208, avenger182, elgordo, Bagget00.

Here's to those who added me to favorite author list.

Kaiser969, CodelyokoFan23, SFMS EVENTS.

Those Awesome enough to add me to author alert

Kaiser969, sgayle51.

And to my amazingly awesome beta readers.

mjnousak, Bob


	6. Ah! Deals with the devil herself Part1

An exhausted Keiichi collapsed near the top of the grassy hill. His breathing heavy, his face covered in sweat. He looked up at the sky as the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. The sky was filled with a gorgeous orange color.

"_It's hard to believe that in the past month my life has improved and changed so much._" Keiichi thought to himself while remembering in detail first encounter with Lind, then the next day afterwards Belldandy. "_Before then if someone told me this would be happening to me, I'd think they were crazy. I could hardly believe it at first that I'd be living with not only one but now two goddesses. Of which one of them has a vested interest in helping me improve my confidence and self esteem._" Keiichi looked at his hands, still lying down and sighed. "_I wonder if Lind is wasting time on me. There must be much more important people or activities she could be occupied with right now instead of wasting her time on me._" The faces of the petrified people that have been rising up all over the past month came to mind. "_Thankfully someone with friends in high places had kept the local police distracted from these events_." Keiichi asked Lind about it once, she just smiled and told him it was a promise between two ladies but would never go into detail with him. Even still in the month's time the number continued to climb. Keiichi stopped counting at eleven. It was getting to depressing for him to keep track after that. "_Even with the exercises we have been spending our mornings on I am still a mess. And I'm of no use to Lind or Belldandy on this._" Keiichi thought gloomily and sighed.

A figure stood over him giving him some shade. The face darkened by the bright rising sun in the background. When Keiichi's vision adjusted he was able to tell it was Lind from the distinct markings on her face. Shortly after that he could make out the disappointed look she was sending his way and felt nervous all of a sudden. "How many times do you intend make me repeat myself" Lind told while sitting down next to him. "You've made phenomenal progress since we began running together to get you in shape. The first time we ran you were winded after about ten minutes. Now you manage to complete the exercise without rest. You're doing well Keiichi. Soon we can move on to the combat exercises." Keiichi looked to Lind while picturing himself in a male version of the Valkyrie uniform, holding Lind's poleaxe as he beat up various people while an envious Lind watched in awe.

A smack over the top of his head snapped him out of his daydream. "What was that for!" Keiichi shouted while sitting upright, rubbing his head.

"That's for staring and for getting an ego. You're doing well Keiichi. Don't let that get the better of you." Lind told while standing up.

"How can I not?" Keiichi asked and Lind looked down at him harshly again. "I-I mean I've had the best instructor to get me in shape after all." Keiichi mentioned frantically while waving his hands in front of himself.

Lind looked away from Keiichi and towards the sun. "I enjoy our morning exercises together. Just the two of us alone and the only other company with us is the pretty sunrise." Keiichi blushed somewhat wondering if this was Lind's version of a date. He suddenly found the urge to wrack his mind for a good reply totally forgetting, like usual when embarrassed or shy; Lind could hear each and every thought he had. Lind managed half a smile as she offered her hand to help him up. "We should return home Keiichi-san." A familiar hand from Lind broke Keiichi out of his mental dilemma. "Belldandy will be waiting on us with breakfast prepared. It would be unfortunate on our part to let the meal go cold."

Keiichi smiled and took Lind's hand and she pulled him up and helped him brush off some grass on his back. "Let's get going Lind." Keiichi cheered enthusiastically and she nodded. Keiichi started off and Lind looked at her hand wondering about the warm feeling she just had when she helped him up. Noticing he was alone Keiichi looked back. "Are you coming Lind?"

"Ah! Pardon my delay." Lind ran to catch up to him as the two went over the hill and back towards their home.

Xxxxx

When Keiichi and Lind returned to the temple they noticed Belldandy outside singing. She smiled and walked up to the pair to greet them with a smile. "Welcome home."

Keiichi smiled back while Lind noted the extra car parked in the same area Keiichi left his bike. "We have company?" Lind asked still looking at the vehicles.

"Come on inside, they're waiting for you." Belldandy carried on singing as she walked through the door.

"Who would be waiting on us?" Lind wondered as she entered.

Keiichi dragged his feet as he followed. "I think I have an idea. Only they would enter another's house without announcing themselves in advance. Inside Belldandy waited for Keiichi. She smiled at the stack of boxes while Lind looked as impassive as always. Keiichi though could feel a headache coming on as he counted the hours it would take to sort through all the boxes stacked against the walls in the hallway. Then clean up the various miscellaneous items around. His mood did a flip though once he noticed the mess consisted of his belongings left behind at the dorm when he'd been he couldn't get the boxes opened fast enough. Lind and Belldandy looked on with their bemused smiles as Keiichi removed a few more objects and held them up excitedly. He acted similarly to a kid at a toy store.

"_Well so much for him improving_." Lind thought to herself while watching him continue. When she noticed him going for box number two she decided he needed some divine intervention before he got too distracted. "What is all this?" She asked while opening a box and at the top she noticed a magazine. Picking it up, she flipped it over to the cover. Then she showed the cover to Keiichi. "Is this what you find stimulating?" On the cover was a well endowed woman dressed in a rather small bikini. Keiichi looked up and saw the magazine; he gave an embarrassed look that would fit nicely in any scrap book.

Quickly he snatched the magazine from Lind's grasp and fled into his room from both girls. Belldandy smiled at the scene while Lind frowned, watching him from the corner of her eyes. She was feeling slightly annoyed and jealous at the same time. "Where did all of this stuff come from?" Lind asked turning to Belldandy.

"Tamiya and Otaki were kind enough to deliver them. They mentioned that this was all of Keiichi's things from his previous room at the dormitory block." Belldandy explained as she began lifting up a couple of the nearest boxes.

Lind could hear Belldandy explaining more but was tuned out by her own thoughts as she stood there while Belldandy came and went a few times moving a few boxes on each trip. "_It seemed like so much less the first time I saw all of this._" Lind thought looking at the boxes. Suddenly feeling some guilt about when he was thrown out because she was too stubborn to leave when he had asked her to; causing the misunderstanding with the seniors of the motor club. "_I wonder how I could make it up to him."_ She wondered while holding her chin, deep in thought.

"EHHHH!" Keiichi shouted throughout the temple. Belldandy and Lind entered the room they heard the yell from. The two goddesses arrived just in time to see Tamiya and Otaki eating the last few bites of breakfast that Belldandy had prepared for her roommates.

"Another perfectly prepared meal Belldandy." Otaki mumbled callously while using a tooth pick. Sitting next to him Tamiya nodded and agreed with an "mmmm" sound.

Lind's stomach growled while she stared at the emptied plates, having worked up a bit of an appetite from her morning exercise with Keiichi. "You ate our breakfast?" Lind asked quietly. She looked downwards, her face darkened as she clenched her fingers into a fist so tightly her arms shook. She smiled evilly.

Tamiya and Otaki looked at each other nervously. Belldandy and Keiichi stepped back through the door and away from the angered Valkyrie. Both knowing better than to get in her way now of all times. Lind began to walk towards the two thieves, still looking downwards. Lind punched the opened palm of her left hand and looked directly at the two. Tamiya and Otaki hugged each other in fear. "Just not da face!" Otaki cried out as Lind inched closer.

The sounds of a fight erupted from the room accompanied by the cries of the seniors as they received their punishment. The aftermath revealed the results of this one sided fight. The table, plates and utensils lay around the floor in a mess along with bruised and battered looking Tamiya and Otaki. Tamiya weakly waved a white flag, surrendering to this higher power.

"Oh my! Lind is especially lively today." Belldandy said warmly as she left to go gather some medical items for her friends of the motor club. After patching them up Belldandy made some rice balls for Keiichi and Lind. This would save the seniors from future outbursts of Lind's wrath.

After delivering the food she sat down besides Tamiya and Otaki. Thank you for bringing Keiichi's possessions to our home." Belldandy smiled while she praised.

Keiichi just looked at the two skeptically. "They probably used that as an excuse for a meal."

"Do they not get to eat often?" Belldandy asked looking concerned.

"More like they are out of money again on some failed plan and are looking for freebies." Keiichi explained.

Tamiya began to voice his objection until Lind glared at him. Both offenders quickly retreated to the other end of the room. Lind turned her attention back to the rice as Tamiya coughed off the embarrassment mockingly. "We also wanted to tell you of the motor club Aoshima founded at NIT called the four wheel club. He has challenged us to a contest and we want you to drive for us."

Belldandy became excited at the idea. "This sounds like could be very enjoyable." She said.

"There is also a bet on the race. The losing team must disband there auto club." Tamiya said. Otaki nodding besides him.

"Let's enter the competition." Lind said flatly as she moved on to her next rice ball. Tamiya and Otaki got pumped up and loud that Lind was on board with this. "I'd like to put that man in his place for once. He gets away with too much because of his families deep pockets." The events of Keiichi being kidnapped still fresh in her mind. And Lind recalled all the times she spied him hitting on various women in plain sight of the flock of 'sheep' as Lind began calling all the girls that followed him wherever he went. Once he even tried this on Lind, who countered by threatening to drop a truck engine on him one day while at the motor club.

"Why should we? It's not like we have anything to lose by not entering, or anything to gain by entering." Keiichi said.

Otaki thought about it for a moment then came up with an idea. "Let's wager the racing cars. When we win we can use or sell of the competition's ride!"

Naturally Tamiya agreed and Keiichi sighed in disbelief. He knew Aoshima would have a top model car at the rally and a win would be very difficult. That wasn't even considering the tricks he would undoubtly use. Keiichi learned firsthand how far Aoshima would go to get what he wanted. "Well if Lind thinks this is a good idea then I guess it can't hurt to try." "_Although, Lind will hurt me for sure if I don't agree."_ Keiichi cried to himself and Lind looked up at him innocently yet at the same time her expression somehow appeared intimidating.

"Great! We can begin searching for car parts this weekend. We start operation 'Defeat Aoshima and win the rally." Tamiya and Otaki shouted one after the other. Keiichi looked away, ashamed he hung out with the seniors when they got strange like this. Belldandy smiled and clapped at the spirit the two were showing. As the seniors got up to leave, Otaki tried to steal one of Lind's rice balls as he passed by heron the way out but she just looked at him from the corner of her eye and held her chop sticks like knives.

Xxxxx

_Lind, wearing her blue and white robes stopped in front of the door to a small building. It was dwarfed by the others on the large platform. _

_Across a vast yard was a much larger and more decorated building where several goddesses in Valkyrie uniforms walked to and from. "Valkyrie recruitment office." Lind read the sign on the door. After a moment of hesitation she entered._

"_How can you allow this travesty to continue!" We're losing Valkyries at an unacceptable rate!" The Valkyrie with her back to Lind shouted._

"_Now is not the time for your complaints Celveria." The recruiter said and nodded towards Lind who stood in the doorway. Celveria snapped around quickly and furiously._

"_I-is this a bad time?" Lind asked humbly and fearfully. She backed up a step away from Celveria and hit the door; startling her._

_Celveria's face softened when she noticed the fear Lind was showing from the outburst. "Forgive me for that barbaric outburst. It was wrong of me to act in such a manner towards you." Celveria said as she held Lind by her shoulders and pressed her own forehead against Lind's in an apologetic manner, then broke off the embrace. "Don't think this is over." Celveria told the recruiter as she stepped past Lind and left the office. The door slammed behind her._

"_I wouldn't have it any other way." The recruiter added quickly as Celveria left the office. "How can I help you?" The recruiter asked then smiled. If there ever was a smile that caused a person's hair to stand on end, she had it going on with Lind. She had this instinctual feeling that the recruiters' smiles were all false but brushed it off for her own desires despite the shiver she felt running down her spine. Lind reached into her robes and handed over a letter. The recruiter read the material on it. During this time Lind noticed the features of this Valkyrie more closely. She had bright green, nearly neon looking hair that covered her right eye. The left however was a dark red. "A referral notice." The recruiter stated then put the message down. She leaned over the desk closer to Lind. "You look promising. Though I am curious why you wish to join our ranks, especially considering the war time we find ourselves in with _Niflheim_."_

"_I want power, the power to earn both my wings. Here I feel is the fastest place to gain the power needed." Lind explained._

"_Gain your second wing? I'm sorry I don't understand your mannerisms." Lind nodded and released her angel Spearmint and revealed her lone left wing. "Dear me, I didn't realize you were being literal with me." The recruiter said and her smile grew just slightly larger. "Well there is an eight month training period you must attend before even being considered for apprenticeship within the silver wings."_

"_I see." Lind lowered her head in disappointment of the response._

"_However." Lind looked back up to the recruiter. "Given your condition and the willful look in your eyes I'll make an exception. In three days time we will battle against a large resistance of demons held up on a key position at the earth realm. Our forces however are stretched thin and able fighters are coming up short. If we are to win we will need all the help we can get. "The recruiter wrote a quick couple words on an invisible board that had a blue rim hinting of the items borders. She handed it to Lind when she'd finished. "Take this to either the training field or the main hall and give this to any officer within our ranks. That is my approval to make you an apprentice silver ring so you may join the upcoming battle."_

_Lind held onto the item as though it were her life line and bowed to the recruiter. "Thank you for this opportunity mistress. You won't regret this decision. I'll make you proud!" Lind said as she left the room. When the recruiter heard the door shut, her smile faded. Her expression became cold. "Of that my dear I have no doubts. You will fulfill your role just fine. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and take a demon or two out before falling yourself."_

_Xxxxx_

Keiichi woke up as usual. And as usual he could immediately hear Belldandy setting up to make breakfast, she waited until Lind and Keiichi left before actually begin cooking. He stretched as he stood up. Still half asleep, he walked down the hall towards Lind's room, barely holding his head up straight into a firm female figure he bounced off and fell over. This woke him enough for him to notice the unusual white fabric straps that formed part of a Valkyrie uniform. "Ah! Sorry about that Lind." Keiichi said and to his surprise a hand was offered to help him up. He gladly accepted and felt shy about holding her hand. "Thanks Lind, you…" Keiichi trailed off when he opened his eyes. It took him a moment for it to register in his mind this was not Lind, but another Valkyrie with brown hair and green eyes.

"Keiichi Morisato-sama. I have arrived here to relay a message to mistress Lind." She explained while Lind just happened to appear from around a corner heading towards the kitchen. She was wearing a short blue that showed off her stomach blouse with 'Yggdrasil warrior' written on the front as well as a rather equally short lavender skirt. He stared dumbly at Lind's physique that the little clothing only highlighted. She smiled approvingly before smacking him over the head to snap him out of his trance then looked to the guest Valkyrie.

Lind noticed the lack of winged badges on shoulders of her uniform. "What is it apprentice?"

The Valkyrie looked at Keiichi uncertainly then back to Lind. "It would be best if we spoke in private mistress."

"Keiichi is a friend. I trust him, speak freely." Thought still smarting from the whack Lind gave him moments ago he couldn't help but smile.

The apprentice Valkyire nodded. "Very well then, I was ordered to inform you that the gates to Niflheim have been shut closed by a citizen of heaven earlier today." Keiichi's attention shifted from the pain to what was being said. "The Almighty has asked you to look into the matter and if possible capture the one responsible before relations with the Daimakaichō are ruined beyond repair. You should know the significance of this if that comes to pass mistress."

For the first time since Lind arrived Keiichi saw Lind look panicked as memories of the war flooded her mind. "Is everything alright Lind?" Keiichi asked looking worried himself.

She nodded to Keiichi then turned back to the apprentice. "I understand, I'll begin immediately."

She handed what appeared to be an invisible screen with a blue border to Keiichi, as he looked at it he could see writing that he couldn't understand. He handed it to Lind "We've recorded a list of numerous suspicious spots where heavenly magic had been used." Looking through Lind noticed that a majority of the locations led to areas where Belldandy or herself had used their own magic, she frowned until she noticed one remote coordinate.

Lind placed the pad on a nearby table. "Thank you, you're dismissed." She saluted Lind and nodded to Keiichi then teleported away using a phone as a medium. After she had left Lind went into the kitchen with Keiichi close behind. "Breakfast will have to wait Belldandy."

Xxxxx

At about 35 miles outside of Nekomi city limits the trio drove down an empty stretch of road, surrounded by tall prairie grass."Are you sure about this?" Keiichi wondered while shouting to Lind who was sitting directly behind him on the bike, hanging onto him. "I don't want to have driven all the way here for nothing."

"We are nearly there Keiichi-san." Belldandy called out from the passenger car in her normal and cheerful manner despite the seriousness of the situation.

Lind pointed towards the fields to the right of the direction they were heading indicating over Keiichi's shoulder so he could see where to go. He positioned himself to be ready for the bumps that he knew were awaiting him when he pulled off the evenly paved roadway. Keiichi drove through the brush until he suddenly found himself in a large open clearing. The grass had somehow been scoured away to produce a perfect this dirt circle were a series of runic symbols and drawings around the outer edge. Lines and shapes of chaotic design filled the rest of the circle. The markings all glowed a greenish color and Keiichi noticed that even when he tried to brush away the marking with his feet he was unable to do so no matter how hard he tried. Lind looked around and magically changed into her Valkyrie uniform incase she needed to fight. Belldandy followed her example, changing to her GRO clothing. "The one who made this is talented. The lines are drawn perfectly and cover such a vast area." Belldandy said enviously.

"The air is filled with a heavenly aura. A lot of magic was used here not too long ago. Whoever did this is either strong or has exhausted his or her self." Lind said looking around.

Keiichi thought for a bit. "I don't suppose you could track them Lind, perhaps using the same method Belldandy used when she found us."

"Perhaps if this circle was not crafted then yes, but the person's magic has dropped considerably making this." Lind held her arms away from herself to emphasize her point. "It's not enough for me to track on my own."

Discouraged Keiichi walked around and noticed something standing up further into the circle, near its center. "Lind." Both goddesses looked towards the direction Keiichi pointed and they flew towards it. Lind grabbed Keiichi by the arms as she flew past, getting them all there faster. Setting down they noticed it was a rather elegantly crafted and decorated sword. Lind's eyes widened for a brief moment when she got a good look at it.

"I'll take this with me." Lind said flatly, yet softly, sounding more like Belldandy then herself.

This change of tone didn't go unnoticed by Keiichi. "You know who owns that sword, don't you?"

Lind said nothing but stood staring at the sword in her hand. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Keiichi hug her from behind. She looked angry and was about to throw him off when she was interrupted. "You're not just one of those personnel dolls Lind."She stopped resisting and noticed the warm feeling Keiichi had to him when he hugged her. "You don't have to go about this alone. Tell us what you're thinking". Keiichi then let go, feeling embarrassed. Lind just smiled slightly.

Belldandy giggled at the scene playing out. "Keiichi-san is correct Lind. Were your friends, share your troubles with us. We are here for you as much as you are for us. There is no reason you should do everything alone.

"Yeah, it's like Belldandy said. I feel the same as she does on this."Keiichi said as he moved away to stand with Belldandy.

"Keiichi…" Lind whispered, feeling very small all of a sudden. "Your right, forgive me." Keiichi and Belldandy smiled at her. "This sword belonged to my mistress within the silver wings. During the war we fought together in many battles." Lind said her normal firm voice, changing as she become more emotional.

"S-She closed the gate to Niflheim then?" Keiichi asked approaching.

Belldandy held him back by the arm. "I don't believe it is that way." She whispered to him.

"No… that would be impossible. She didn't do this. Someone is messing with me, calling me out perhaps." Lind said.

"I don't get it, it's her sword here, so it must be her." Keiichi wondered. "Right?"

Lind held her head low, her hair hid her face from the others. "It's not her Keiichi. During the ending months of the war her unit was caught in an ambush…" Her voice trailed off.

Keiichi kicked himself for pushing the topic so much after hearing that. Belldandy looked at the two sympathetically. The three stood still in silence for a moment until the mourning moment passed. After she was ready again Lind broke the silence by the sounds and lights of her storing the sword away magically, the same as she did with her pole axe. "Whoever has left the sword is a coward. They frame the fallen and try to throw me off my focus all in one move. The one responsible for this is a disgrace!" Lind nearly shouted as she walked past Keiichi and Belldandy. While doing so for a moment Keiichi noticed Lind's eyes flicker to a golden color and the intensity she showed in those eyes was almost enough to make his legs give out from under him. Then she looked towards him. He felt almost as if he couldn't breathe until that flicker past and her eyes returned to their normal gentle blue color.

Xxxxx

The trip back to the temple lacked any conversations. Only the engine of the motorcycle kept the trio company. As Keiichi drove towards the temple he noticed the clouds began to darken more the closer towards the temple he drove. "There's a storm, we should wait out this storm until it passes." Keiichi said.

Keiichi looked at Belldandy and Lind when he stopped at a red light. Both goddesses looking agitated to varying degrees.

"It's not going to rain Keiichi." Lind said as the area lit up from a flash of lightning followed by a huge crashing noise above them. It was enough to make Keiichi nearly jumped out of his seat. Lind looked annoyed at him. "We're going to have to fix that." Causing Keiichi to sigh, but agree.

The three finally arrived back at the temple a short time after. It was not hard for the group to notice the strong winds that swayed the trees and caused the air to howl on its own.

"Someone is waiting for us, a demon…" Belldandy said.

Keiichi started to question it when Lind made her poleaxe appear. Getting the idea he ran to the garage and found his long extension bar and held it like a weapon. "Be careful here Keiichi-san." Lind warned as she walked towards the temple front door. "Stay behind me you two."

"_Breaking into a police station doesn't seem so scary anymore compared to this."_ Keiichi thought, wondering what a demon looked like. Ideas of various ghouls and imp like creatures came to his mind. He gripped his tool/weapon even tighter as he followed behind Lind and Belldandy as they entered the temple. Keiichi tried to stay especially close to Lind.

Lind stepped in front of the tea room door and waited for Belldandy. Then she changed stances and nodded to Belldandy, as soon as the door was open Lind rushed into the room. Almost immediately she flew out backwards hitting the wall and struck by lightning. She knelt up glaring into the room while her uniform charred.

"Serves you right for bearing your fangs at me silver wing." A voice from within the tea room called out whimsically.

Keiichi and Belldandy stood in front of Lind while she recovered from the attack. Inside the room he could see a beautiful copper skinned woman in her mid thirties, her long white hair billowed back from a tiara and flowed halfway down her backside. The revealing skin tight red dress left little to the imagination of her sumptuous her wrists and within her hair were several large bangles. On top of her head is a tiara matching her clothing in color and design. What Keiichi seemed most fixated on though was the red six pointed star on her forehead. Opposite in color of Lind and Belldandy. "_She's the demon?_ _Not quite what I was expecting."_ He thought while holding the tool in his hands between him and her, earning him an amused smile from her.

She sat floating in the air with a cup of tea. Then in the blink of an eye she was in front of Belldandy. Keiichi turned and jumped in surprise when she saw Belldandy being hugged by the demon. "Bell-chan! It's good to see you again. My my, just **look** at how you've grown since then." She told in a loud, squeally and excited voice. Belldandy smiled at her as sweetly as she could manage given the situation. "Then this must be Morisato Keiichi-kun. The mortal who had been rumored to have been able to charmed a silver wing for himself. Tell me, what promises did you make her to win her heart over? I would like to hear them." She whispered seductively in his ear and moved closer to him, letting her rather large chest press against his back while she laughed sinisterly. When he turned to face her she had already teleported back to the tea room and smiled eerily at him some more. Keiichi looked at her nervously and wondered if he could harm her, considering attacking her with the extension bar. "Are you sure you want to do that Keiichi-kun?" She tilted her head and wisps of lightning danced across the tips of her fingers. "It could become unpleasant for you."

"_She can read my thoughts like Lind?" _Keiichi surrendered by putting it down against the wall.

"That's a good little boy." The demon taunted.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" Keiichi asked.

"She's the Daimakaichō." Lind told as she struggled to stand, still feeling the after effects of the attack on her. Keiichi looked at Lind and Belldandy moved to get a closer look at Hild.

"Daimakaichō? What's that." He asked while helping Lind up on her feet.

"The ruler of demon kind. She's the equivalent to heaven's almighty." Lind said, keeping her eyes focused on the uninvited guest.

"Is that so…" Keiichi laughed nervously. "_It's good I didn't attack after all. She doesn't look all that threatening though."_

"Don't be deceived Keiichi. She could likely defeat Belldandy and I in an instant. Those large jewelry pieces in her hair and around her wrists, they are all most likely sealing away her true power." Lind explained.

Curiously Belldandy stood in front of the floating demon. "You want something from me?" She asked with asked sarcastically.

Belldandy shook her head. "Your appearance, it's strikingly similar to Urd's."

"Well that's to be expected." Hild whispered just loud enough for Belldandy alone to hear.

"That explains why world of elegance is…" Belldandy was cut off by the demon.

"The silver wing is right Keiichi-kun. My name is Hild. I've arrived at this temple seeking your help in reopening the gate to Niflheim"

Lind sat down to the right of Hild and Keiichi next to Lind, further away from Hild while Belldandy sat across from Lind and Keiichi. "Why should we help you, Niflheim is your concern to manage, not ours." Lind told Hild bluntly.

"Hmmm…" Hild considered thought a variety of punishments for Lind's remark. "_Maybe after this is all over with._" "That's true, however the silver wings are responsible for the being closed."

"That's a lie!" Lind shouted and stood up, her hands in fists and looking angry.

Hild huffed at the outburst and reached inside of the top piece to her clothing, making Keiichi turn red. Lind sighed at the lewd display and Belldandy just smiled at it, as usual. Hild pulled out a strand of fabric from a Valkyrie uniform that normally is buttoned on just below the shoulders. This one had been torn where the button would normally hold the strip to the rest of the clothing. Hild dropped it onto the table rather callously. "I pulled that off the clothes of a silver wing at the seal in an open field. The same one you three just returned from. Unfortunately she was able to flee."

Lind looked at the cloth unbelievingly. "It's not her Lind." Keiichi said, looking at the cloth himself. "You said so yourself. Maybe it's someone else who knew her also though, or had a grudge against her."

"Whoever it is that is responsible must be made to fix this. If the gate is not restored soon the doublet system will crumble. There are several factions within Niflheim that believe peace with heaven is a mistake and are most likely gathering for a hostile response to this act. The longer the gate remains inactive the more support they are likely to gain." Hild said.

Lind pocketed the piece of cloth while Belldandy and Keiichi thought about the situation. "We need time to think this out properly." Lind said as she stood and left the tea room. Keiichi followed and Belldandy bowed to Hild before running to catch up.

Belldandy followed Keiichi into his room where Lind already was and closed the door behind her. Lind cast a spell and the walls of the room glowed dimly then returned to normal. "That should keep Hild from listening in, for a short while anyhow till she finds a way around it if she hasn't already." Lind said.

"Can she really be trusted, she is the ruler of demon kind after all. " Keiichi asked immediately getting right to the point.

"Yes." Belldandy said.

"No." Lind told Keiichi at the same time Belldandy responded.

"She wants to reopen the gate, the same as us. We could use her assistance on this." Belldandy argued.

"That may be true, however this is the Daimakaichō were talking about. We have no way of knowing if this is her only goal while she is here. Lind said.

"She wants the gate re-opened to prevent the war from starting again for…" Belldandy stopped what she was saying. "She will help us, trust me."

"How can you know that?" Lind wondered. "What do you know that you're not telling to us?"

Belldandy looked ashamed. "I… It's not my secret to tell." Her words trailed off as she looked away from Lind and Keiichi. It obvious to both she didn't like the idea of not telling them what she knew.

Lind sighed. "Fine, I'll co-operate with her for now. I just hope your reasons are solid Belldandy. This is your decision. It's not like a first class to lie or deceive like this. If she crosses us you'll be held accountable." Belldandy seemed fine with that hugging Lind for agreeing. "Let's go back." Lind said, standing still while being hugged.

The three returned to the tea room and sat back down in their previous spots as before. "You came to us for help, but why should we trust you."Lind asked

Hild found this amusing. "Trust me?" She began to laugh at this. "This is what you all spoke of? I'm the ruler of Niflheim. You shouldn't trust me anymore then I trust the three of you."

"Then why should…" Keiichi was interrupted when his mouth was sudden filled with red crayons, given to him by a well aimed spell from Hild.

"You're asking the wrong questions. You should be asking yourselves how you can use me to achieve your goal." Hild said, while in the back ground Keiichi was trying to spit out the numerous crayons that had him in a unique situation.

"You're the Daimakaichō, a hero of Niflheim. Why do you need us?" Lind asked.

"Because a hero acting alone acts in vain." Hild replied.

Lind looked to Belldandy who nodded. "We'll accept your help however you will follow our lead on this. You have to do this our way, by our terms." Lind said.

"So we continue doing nothing then?" Hild asked in an almost too honest manner.

Lind squinted her eyes at this. "Just how do you know what we may have or have not done."

Hild made her eyes glow a reddish color while staring at Lind to intimidate. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not interesting enough to me for me to observe you in such a secretive manner. Keiichi-kun's wish to have a silver wing live with him spread like wildfire throughout Niflheim. It was the gossip of the month. Knowing this I also know you have has had no access to Yggdrasil to properly investigate this from heaven given his unusual wish. And Belldandy's pride as a GRO agent will not allow her to leave either. To her this wish is her's as much as it is your Lind. She feels it was supposed to be her call because it came from her phone." Hild said.

"We recovered records from this realm on the various victims that have been attacked recently. We believe they have some connection to the gate being closed." Lind told Hild.

"Unless you somehow find a link between the victims, you have nothing." Hild clarified.

"We should discover what has been attacking the people. It's likely the two are related, so we can use the attacker to find the one who closed the gate." Hild sang an incantation. Suddenly every victim lay before the four of them in the room.

Keiichi was rambling about how they should not be there while Lind and Belldandy watched on curiously while Hild created a magic circle along the floor and walls.

"Are you trying to look into their minds to recall the events leading to their condition? It will not work. Both Belldandy and I have tried and failed." Lind told.

"It's alright Lind." Belldandy smiled encouragingly. "I believe Hild will be very successful."

"Hmmm... Now I know who has the brains in this group." Hild told looking at Lind who just looked away indigently. Hild glowed a purplish color and her hair began to flutter about. "Watch and learn." One by one she shattered the barriers to their minds with little resistance it appeared. Reaching to the last one she touched the person's forehead and Hild stopped moving as she looked into his memories. In his memories she saw a spider like creature with six legs jump towards the person. The memories ended there and Hild returned to herself.

"Did you find anything?" Keiichi asked hopefully.

Hild just nodded. "It is a Dreamweaver causing this, but its actions are curiously unusual."

"Unusual how?" Lind asked.

"Normally a Dreamweavers devour a person's memories entirely, leaving only the most basic of functions such as being able to talk and read, but no memories of themselves. They are a common cause of amnesia among people of this realm. However devouring memories entirely don't cause this petrified state. Outside of the loss of memories they can still function on their own, once they re learn what is needed. These people however had appear to have had only select memories removed. This caused a huge shock to these people's minds putting them in the state we see. It's like performing surgery with makeshift tools. A Dreamweaver can remove only select memories, but not without huge negative consequences. It's the equivalent of trying to performing a heart operation with a chainsaw. Physically possible obviously, just not recommended." Keiichi grimaced at Hild's unfortunate description. "The good news is though if we can recover these torn fragments these people have a good chance of a full recovery."

Keiichi and Belldandy smiled at this.

Lind seemed somewhat unhappy about this though. "That means we have to hope that the Dreamweaver gave up the fragments to whoever might be pulling its strings or we will have to find it and catch it alive to extract the fragments ourselves. And we still have no idea why it is taking only select memories."

"It's a fascinating mystery but to find out either way we will need to set a trap to capture it." Hild looked at Keiichi. "And every good trap needs tempting bait." Belldandy and Lind also looked to Keiichi who gulped at the idea.

"This is insane. Keiichi is in no position to defend himself from the Dreamweaver! He is only…" Lind was interrupted when Keiichi answered for himself.

"I want to do this. If there is a way I can help, then I will. I don't want to burden you three." Keiichi scratched his head nervously. "Besides I'm trusting you to keep me safe Lind."

"Keiichi…" Lind felt weak in the knees a bit and very pressured suddenly. "Alright, if that's what you want I will give Hild's plan a try. But I'm not leaving anything to chance, we all will have to remain awake to protect Keiichi."

Hild raised a hand. "I swear on the almighty I will behave."

Lind looked on at Hild un-amused. "Obviously lying."

Xxxxx

From heaven a goddess with features similar to Hild's is in a stone cellar like room with various vials and test tubes with odd looking liquids filing them. She had just completed creating two pills as requested in the note in her hand with Belldandy's name on it. She smiled and marveled at her completed work when they suddenly disappeared. Cries and shouts filled the air.

Xxxxx

Hild smiles and two identical looking pills appear in her hand. "Now be a good boy for me and swallow these will you." She said while pouring the items in his hands.

Keiichi looked at Lind for a moment and she nodded at him. Hesitantly he took them at this signal. Hild smiled. "What a good boy, now for your reward." Without warning she wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him. Belldandy looked away, Lind got furious and made her poleaxe appear. She swung it to make it pass between Keiichi and Hild separating the two. Keiichi fell to the floor, surprised while Lind stepped in between the two of them. "Is the silver wing feeling jealous someone else kissed her mortal?" Hild asked in a playful manner. Lind noticed then Hild was baiting her to attack again. Reluctantly Lind backed down and made her weapon disappear but still remained between Hild and Keiichi.

Xxxxx

It was early in the morning at the temple and while Keiichi slept Lind sat beside him in his room waiting. Belldandy and Hild waited together in the room just down the hallway. "_Well still nothing after day three._ _This particular Dreamweaver must be timid. The pills should have drawn it to Keiichi like a moth to a flame._" Hild thought while glancing at the clock, it would be dawn soon. Just as she was about to go notify Lind she felt a spell trying to put her to sleep, though given her abilities she could easily brush it off. Belldandy however was already fast asleep Hild noticed. "_Well let the fun begin_." Hild sat and waited not interfering.

Xxxxx

Lind woke up from her sleeping/guarding trademark sit of hers. She yawned and stretched, noticing the time at the same also. "Keiichi wake up! We're late for class." There was no reply. "Keiichi?" She went to him and removed the covers off him. She immediately noticed he had the same symptom as the other victims. She stared down in disbelief for what seemed like several minutes to Lind but couldn't have been more than a few seconds before she screamed out a high pitched yell that shattered all the glass and ceramics within half a mile.

In the room across the hall Belldandy woke to the sounds of the scream. She used a spell to try to limit the volume but it wasn't much use. Even Hild was affected by it, she had one eye closed in displeasure. Belldandy flinched in surprise as white ray of light caused the door in front of her explode into small bits of wood. She was barely able to follow the speed of the light as it struck Hild and a second hole appeared in the wall behind her. Looking around she noticed Hild had been taken away by the same light.

Xxxxx

Lind grabbed Hild by the neck, flying as fast as she could manage with three of six of the speed boosters active on her Valkyrie uniform. She slammed into Hild then through the temple wall and lifted off quickly towards the sky. Hild and Lind were nearly out of Earth's atmosphere when Hild finally was able to break free of the hold. Having freed herself from Lind's grasp she used the same electrical attack she had before on her. This time however Lind held her opened right hand in front of her catching the attack and causing the lightning to disappear harmlessly. Hild could feel the killing intent coming off of Lind. She smiled and flicked her hair. "It's amazing isn't it? Simple hatred for me gave you the strength needed to resist my attack unscathed. The very same attack that brought you too your knees in an instant not long ago.

"Don't waste my time with your opinions!" Lind shouted and her eyes turned a golden color while charging at Hild again. "Keiichi was attacked by the Dreamweaver because of your deception and you allowed it. For that I'll make you suffer!" She tried to grab Hild again. Hild was ready for it this time though and teleported behind Lind, choking her with her arm. Lind looked surprised at the sudden turn of speed Hild demonstrated.

Hild just smiled. "Let's find out how great this hatred of yours truly is." She flew both Lind and herself straight towards the ground. In an attempt to shake Hild off Lind spun the two of them violently, causing a funnel of wind to form around the both of them. Hild managed to remain attached to Lind until the last possible second then vanished. Lind impacted the ground at a farm. The ground shook and the livestock stampeded in its attempt to get away from the crater and explosion of falling debris caused by the impact.

When the dust settled Lind was coughing and breathing erratically while lying on the ground. Hild appeared and calmly walked towards her. She grabbed Lind by the hair causing her to cry out as she lifted her to eye level. "You disappoint me. I had thought your hatred for me would be stronger than this." Hild sighed and let go of Lind. Then spun around and kicked her sending her flying into a shack. A few lucky chickens from within it flew out frantically. Hild started walking towards the now shattered chicken coop when a blue ray of light broke through the rubble and came at her from the left, freezing the ground it touched while making its way to Hild.

Hild blocked this by stamping down on the ground and causing a large chuck of earth to rise up in front of her. Lind's attack froze the earth and just as Hild was about to push it away a white glove appeared from the frozen earth, crushing Hild's wrist as the hand clamped down. Hild was pushed backwards as Lind appeared completely from the ice with her angel spearmint behind her. Lind was breathing heavy but still able to continue. "Still have some fight in you after all? Good, entertain me some more." Hild said right before being punched by Lind with her free hand. Hild stumbled back from the force of the punch but was not allowed to get out of Lind's reach, still firmly grasping Hild's wrist. Lind was able to get in a few more punches until Hild caught her fist as she leaned in for another punch. "Now now, you've had your chance for some fun. Now it's my turn." Hild sent a lightning attack through the fist she caught. Lind cried out and released Hild's wrist, forced to kneel in front of Hild as she continued to shock Lind, causing her to cry out.

"Lind, Hild! Please stop!" Belldandy pleaded as she floated down besides Lind. As Lind struggled to stand up Belldandy could tell Lind was near her limit. Her magical aura had faded greatly and her eyes returned to their normal color. "I saw what happened to Keiichi-san." Tears formed in her eyes. "If we're to get him back we will need Hild's help." Belldandy said while trying to help Lind up.

Hild looked disappointed while standing watching the two goddesses. "_It was just starting to get interesting too… oh well. There's always another time."_

"It's because we trusted her he's in this condition!" Lind said harshly to Belldandy and shoved her fellow goddess away. "How can you ask me too work with her again!"

"Please Lind! Just stop!" Belldandy pleaded, holding her hands together.

"Do what you want." Lind said in a broken, defeated tone while walking away from Hild and Belldandy.

Belldandy reached out towards Lind and started to follow her. "Let her go Belldandy." Hild said as she stood beside Belldandy who was crying but listened to Hild. "She's doubting herself right now, until she regains her self confidence she will be useless to us."

"What can we do? We can't trap the Dreamweaver now." Belldandy said, she also dealing with her feelings of loss for what happened.

"We don't have to. We have another card left to play. When I kissed Keiichi I placed a marker on him that the Dreamweaver now also has. I can track that marker to the Dreamweaver. It should lead me to the one that closed the gate." Hild said.

"Lind was right… I should not have trusted you." Belldandy cried out, beginning to question what she had learned from her time at the GRO.

"I didn't lie to you. I told you from the start you shouldn't trust me, that you should use me to achieve your goals. Did it not occur to you that would use you three to achieve my own goal as well? That is how the game is played. Don't blame me like Lind has if you are unable to come to terms with that."

"It's my default to trust and be forgiving, even to the ruler of demons. I am not like you and Lind" Belldandy said.

Hild looked appalled. "You remind me of him… I find it sickening. Well no matter, for now let's return to the temple until Lind is ready to join us again when we raid the Dreamweavers lair. We will most likely have to contend with that silver wing as well." She walked a few steps then disappeared when a lightning bolt struck her.

Xxxxx

Lind quietly entered the temple and could sense that Hild and Belldandy had both arrived here before her. Not bothering to announcing her arrival, instead she just went straight to Keiichi's room and shut the door behind her. It then collapsed off its frame from her earlier outburst. Spearmint appeared of her own free will. While Lind rolled Keiichi over Spearmint grabbed the blanket and covered him up, as though he were sleeping. She removed her gloves and gently tried to fix his normal messy hair. "_Even when like this, he still gives me a warm feeling." _Lind thought while smiling sadly. "_This is my fault Keiichi-kun. I failed you. I should never have allowed Belldandy to sway my opinion so easily. I hope you can forgive me."_ Tears welled up in both her and Spearmint's eyes. _"He looks so peaceful; it must have attacked without waking him." _Lind sobbed then cried. She rested her head and arms on his stomach, and then cried louder. From outside the room Belldandy looked in hearing Lind begin to cry she repaired the door then shut it giving her some privacy in her grief.

Xxxxx

Sometime later that day Hild arrived at Keiichi's room and finds Lind asleep, in roughly the same way she had been when awake and crying. "My how the mighty have fallen." Hild said rather loudly while entering the room, waking Lind.

"Leave me be." Lind said while sitting up and looking towards Keiichi.

"Surely this isn't the same fearsome one winged Lind. The Valkyrie of extraordinary strength. The same who's name alone struck fear into the hearts of countless demons during the war. I find it hard to believe your one in the same. The demons who fell to your blade then must be weeping in shame at the sight of you now." Hild said tilting her head to the side.

Lind looked up at Hild, her faced covered in dried tears. "What do you want with me Hild, haven't you done enough damage already?"

"I won't apologize for my actions. I do what I need to without remorse or guilt. Belldandy and I have discovered the location of where the Dreamweaver sleeps. We want you to join us when we attack it."

Lind turned her back on Hild. "I'm not interested."

"If you won't do it for us, then do it for Keiichi. Fight to get his memory fragment back and return him to you with your own strength." Hild said, than left. Lind sat back down besides Keiichi when she sensed Hild was in the other room with Belldandy.

"Do you believe Lind will join us?" Belldandy asked Hild while staring at an empty tea cup.

Hild looked towards Keiichi's room. "Only if she regains her self confidence, right now she's still questioning herself while discovering what Keiichi means to her. Until she does this she will not. There's no telling how long that might be. Only now after nearly losing something can she begin to gain a true appreciation for something, or someone. This holds true of all things, not just people. For now we should assume it will not happen any time soon and plan to go without her."

"Do you think of Urd when you say that?" Belldandy asked while turning the cup in her hands nervously.

Hild just snorted at that and looked away. "Let's give Lind a single day. If she still won't join us we will just have to go without her. We can't afford to wait to long."

"I see…" Belldandy whispered to herself, wondering if Lind will manage to pull through so quickly.

Author Notes.

This is a two part chapter, the second half will be posted as soon as I have it finished. Till then be sure to read and review.

Author Thanks.

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

Another Duck, CodelyokoFan23, dbfox007, sgayle51, Juseifudo, Coolkatie2.

For those who liked my story enough to put it on alert.

Juseifudo, Coolkatie2, ViciousDraco, taskforce.

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

dbfox007, Juseifudo, Tarathiel, Coolkatie2.

Here's to those who added me to favorite author list.

Coolkatie2.

Those Awesome enough to add me to author alert

Coolkatie2.

And to my amazingly awesome beta readers.

mjnousak, Bob.


	7. Ah! Deals with the devil herself Part 2

Author notes.

I have a quite a few things to say.

First off, as mentioned from the warning at the start of the chapter. The war scene in this chapter from Lind's past was actually a challenge from one of the readers to show the harsh realities to war from a view point in the AMG series. I had not originally had planned to write that part so if it seems a bit out of story line that's cause it is. I hope I meet your standards on the challenge all the same though without degrading the story quality. Also to serve as a warning, if this might upset you then feel free to skip this chapter or that section. This will not offend me in the least and I want this to remain enjoyable for the readers as well as myself.

I got a third and for now last beta. Another Duck has joined my little merry band of proofreaders so be sure to give him thanks along with my other two betas mjnousak and Bob. Again for those who don't know, don't ask Bob's author name he values his privacy and has asked me not give his name out.

Lastly, I got a few messages wondering if this is the end of my story, well sigh with relief cause this is far from over. This particular arc with the Dreamweaver is over; however I still have lots of material for other arcs in the main plot of the story planned. This is not even involving my version of the canon chapters from the AMG manga, Lind being Keiichi's love interest that I intent to write every once in a while.

* * *

The sun had begun to set as the girl walked out the front door. She was wearing a blue shirt with matching jeans pants and jacket; her hair brown hair matched her eyes and fell just past her shoulders. In her hands was a rather large box which made walking difficult, being forced to look to the side to see where she was going. Her somewhat short figure just made her seem adorable to a few of the male populous, turning to watch as she set her box down then sat next to it on the bench looking exhausted. She looked at the watch on her wrist. _"It is nearly an hour late. Some great service they provide here." _She thought while exhaling in a rather exaggerated manner. She removed her ticket from her back pocket and read it to pass the time while a few people sat beside her on the bench. She continued to this until she heard the train pulling up to the sound of screeching brakes. "_It_ _could use some maintenance." _She noted as the train in front of her came to a complete stop. The people next to her formed a line at the doors while she picked up her box.

"Next stop is at Nekomi," a man in a blue uniform called out while moving down the walkway while ringing a bell. More passengers began to stand and prepared to get off as he continued down the train. When the doors had opened she found a seat by a window so she could still see the door. She watched as a family of three entered the train, holding their son by his hands as they led him on. She smiled, remembering her own family. The doors shut and the train shook to life as it began to leave the station. She was happy that she would get to see her brother soon. That she would also be attending NIT with him. "_I just can't wait to see the look of surprise. He won't know what hit him." _She thought, twitching with the anticipation of getting to torment him again. "_Just you wait Kei-chan, I'll be there soon,"_ she laughed to herself as the train picked up speed. Several people stared at her for this breach of etiquette. All of them were ignoring the fact that they themselves had been staring. The man sitting beside her quickly stood at her laugh and made his was to another carriage. A few mothers had to quiet their children from questioning the unusual behavior. The girl was oblivious to all of this as she thought of Kei-chan.

Xxxxx

From within everyone's tea room at the temple Belldandy sat in front of a table, she was looking intently at the map of Nekomi in front of her with a blinking dot traveling across. It had stopped moving when it reached what was marked as a large apartment building. It remained there for nearly twenty minutes before it left the city limits rather hastily. Watching as it left caused Belldandy to feel ill. She knew another person had been attacked; another forced to face this creature. As the dot disappeared off the edge of the map Hild entered the room. "Has it attacked again?" Hild asked as she sat down besides Belldandy. Belldandy nodded and looked down shamefully at her cold, untouched cup of tea. "Let's go out for a while." Belldandy looked at Hild confused. She smiled back, trying to be as sympathetic as she could, for a demon that is. "You look like you need to have some fun. I know a few night clubs that we can go to pass the time.

"What about Lind?" Belldandy asked while being led outside by Hild. "We can't just leave her alone when she's feeling this way."

Hild giggled a bit. "She's welcome to join us," Hild shouted so Lind would be sure to hear. "She needs this more than all of us." Hild made a mockingly fake serious face. "All work and no play makes for a boring goddess." Hild sat down on Keiichi's bike and it started up without the key. "This will be great; we never had a girl's night out before. I'm sure we'll meet lots of interesting people."

"It wouldn't be right without Lind to join us," Belldandy told Hild in a firm manner as she stopped besides the side car.

"That's true. But forcing her is even worse. She needs to sort this out for herself; if she needs us she knows where to find us," Hild said while indicating the seat in the side car for Belldandy. Reluctantly, Belldandy grabbed the helmet in the car and climbed in while putting it on. "That's more like it!" Hild cheered as she twisted the throttle and sped off wildly.

Xxxxx

Lind heard Keiichi's motorcycle start up. She looked down beside her and saw him still laying there. Seeing him still there she lost all interest why the bike was starting up, or who was using it. Not wanting to hear that sound anymore she cast a barrier to block out sounds with a wave of her hands then sat beside him, placing his head in her lap and fell asleep.

Xxxxx

As they got into the road Hild went speeding into the wrong lane. Startled by the wild movements, Belldandy hung on tightly to the side car while Hild played chicken with an oncoming bus. At the last possible moment Hild veered away while the terrified bus driver blared at them with the horn. Hild laughed at the stopped bus while Belldandy looked on with sympathy at the scared and confused passengers. Hild then stood up on the seat of the motorcycle. "Come join me, Bell-chan! This is great!" Hild said offering to help Belldandy up. All the while the motorcycle seemed to turn as if it had a mind of its own. Lights enveloped the two as another car approached. Hild looked on childishly as the motorcycle turned on its own to avoid. "See, nothing to worry about."

"May I ask you something Hild?" Belldandy asked looking up at Hild who was still standing and ignoring the road in front of the two.

"Sure, go on," Hild said while lowering the hand she had been offering up till now.

Belldandy giggled at Hild. "How did you manage to obtain a drivers license for operating a motorcycle when you drive this erratically?" Belldandy asked playfully with a smile.

Hild smirked at the goddess below her. Knowing full well this was Belldandy's way of accepting Hild's attempts to cheer her up while adding some of her own character to the fun. Hild sat back down and swerved to avoid another car, Belldandy nearly falling out of the sidecar again. Hild gasped and held her wrist to her head at Belldandy's comment. "You wound me Bell-chan." She began to cry a bit too much considering everything. "I don't need some silly license." Belldandy smiled as Hild suddenly laughed and pressed the machine to go even faster, shouting happily at the passing cars and occasionally posing provocatively for the few others who shared the road, causing them to rubberneck and nearly crash. This earned Hild a few hard; unapproving stares from Belldandy. While she appreciated the attempts to cheer her up, Hild was getting too far out of hand. Eventually the two arrived at their destination. In the wake of the path they took were dozens of horrified and or traumatized people. Hild just walked in as if she ran the place. Belldandy followed looking around worried as she followed. She was not sure what to do, having never been to a club before.

Xxxxx

_As a group of Valkyries, Lind included, flew through a smoke cloud they were greeted by battle spells. Caught by surprise, the barrage caused the Valkyries__ to scatter in an attempt to evade. To her this evasion pattern seemed completely random and thought up at the spur of the moment. Groups of demons then met__ the disorganized Valkyries, flying between the scattered maidens to disrupt them further. Soon the two sides began to chase after one another. The scene became chaotic. Because of her lack of training Lind could not divine the rhythm of the battle. Looking around, she could only see what was happening in front of her. Some Valkyries fought a demon one on one. Others were forced to fly evasively from two or more demons due to the superior numbers the demons had over the Valkyries in this battle. She hesitated from this confusion, vainly looking for someone she could assist. With each passing second the fight continued to become increasing complicated to Lind as she watched the battle unfold. She hovered still in the air __frozen by the chaos__. A rainbow of spells flew all around, lighting up the sky in a variety of colors. _

_Lind continued looking around, desperately trying to find a target for herself when she heard a cry of pain not far from her. Immediately she turned to the source of the sound and to her horror and dismay saw a demon had stabbed a fellow Valkyrie. When the demon removed his weapon with a kick, Lind watched as the girl, who looked to be much younger than__ Lind, began to fall__ toward the ground. __She made no attempt to fly and Lind just__ watched in shock as the girl became just a mere white dot to her eyes that disappeared beyond the tops of burning trees. Lind covered her mouth, feeling she was going to be sick. With such a serious wound, she knew even the toughest of Valkyries would have trouble surviving a fall from this height.__It struck her like a ton of bricks that she had just seen a goddess die in front of her for the first time. Time seemed to slow for Lind and her hearing became muffled like something was covering her ears as the fighting raged on around her. The demon that killed her comrade smiled. Lind's vision was fixated on this evil smile of his as he began to fly off then stopped himself, looking at her. _

_Acting on instinct, she raised her poleaxe close to herself as the demon closed in. When the two opposing weapons clashed together, Lind's senses returned and the battle recorded in her memory normally normal as any other scene would."You're angry; I can feel it. It comes off of your aura in waves. Who was she to you? A friend? Did you know her long?" The demon asked as the two held their weapons together in a stalemate, neither able to overpower the other. "Don't pity her; you along with all your companions will join her in a similar fate on this day."_

_Lind said nothing as she became more and more infuriated with each of the demons comments, she could feel the adrenaline surging through her giving her extra strength but it wasn't enough to defeat him. Slowly her poleaxe was pushed back towards her the blade was now closing towards her neck; he was too strong for her. _

"_Why are you struggling it's over and you're just about to die" the demon was enjoying the fear rolling off Lind and making it last as long as he could. _

_Lind looked into the demons eyes and everything changed again, the poleaxe stopped its relentless progression towards her neck. She could see every detail as if it was magnified, feel every tremor in his body and smell his acrid scent mixed with the purer smell of the Valkyrie's blood. She smiled and saw fear in his eyes, it gave her no satisfaction but she knew at that point she'd won. She seemed to jump back to the side and the demon staggered forwards off balance her right hand came back to her shoulder as the left flashed forwards. The end of her staff caught the demon under the chin and lifted his head and her hands reversed, the edge of the blade touched his throat and his head fell towards the ground below, the body followed a fraction later. Looking below __her she noticed an enemy encampment and began to fly to the surface to attack it, totally disregarding tactics and orders being shouted toward her._

_Celveria noticed Lind flying towards the ground, behind the demon she was currently fighting with. She noticed several demons turn around to give chase, while others set up to surround Lind. In a sense of urgency and risk to herself, Celveria ended the fight with a single attack. With a quick glance she noticed two available Valkyries who were currently moving to another area of the fight. "Tanith, Sanaki. On me! We're to escort Lind. Keep any pursuers off her. Keep an escape route open for her!" Celveria ordered and the two nodded forming up around her, the three chased after Lind's pursuers. As Celveria closed in the demons noticed the added help and a few split off to deal with her team. Tanith and Sanaki flew ahead and began to fight the group. This allowed Celveria to continue onwards unopposed towards Lind. _

_Soon Celveria sensed two demons chasing after her as well. "Lind! I am ordering you to return! You're in too deep; we can't keep this up!" she__ shouted. She turned around and cast a wind spell. Her chasers become disorientated and unable to fly in a straight line because they were spun around wildly. Once free, Celveria continued onwards toward Lind._

_To Lind, Celveria's orders along with the other sounds of battle became white noise. Lind pressed on blindly towards the encampment below. By sheer luck, she had somehow managed to take the encampment by surprise. As she touched down on the ground she cut down a few unsuspecting demons. The others demons caught by the surprise attack were only able to set up a feeble defense that Lind broke through with little resistance. She felt an air of invincibility in herself as she systematically began to wipe out the inhabitants of the structure. Either by magic or might, Lind continued with her systematic slaying of demons. One by one they fell to her along with any that met her in an attempt to bring her down._

_Once they realized they had no chance of winning the few remaining demons flew away in terror completely ignoring Celveria as she landed in the encampment. She noticed a demon crawling across the ground on his stomach agonizing in pain. Across his back was a huge gash that she knew was fatal but would take several minutes to bleed out. In a show of cold mercy Celveria sighed, then stabbed the demon through the heart to end his suffering. As Celveria moved further into the camp the bodies of fallen demons became increasingly frequent. In the center of the camp she found Lind. __She was watching a building burning, with her back to Celveria__. In heaps around Lind were scores of demons; this was where Lind had made a stand and let her foes approach her. "What is the matter with you_**,**_ apprentice!" Celveria shouted furiously as she ran towards Lind. While running toward her a spell exploded over head. On instinct Celveria stopped running and got low to the ground. When she was convinced the threat had passed she stood back up. She noticed Lind had not even flinched, she just continued to watch the building burn as the roof now collapsed in on itself having succumbed to the heat. "Lind?" Celveria asked as she reached out to touch Lind's shoulder. She stopped and gasped in surprise, as Lind turned to face her._

_Lind turned around to reveal her golden eyes. The front of her uniform was painted red. Blood dripped from the tip of her weapon's blade from the demons she had slain in the close quarter fighting. Celveria also noted the red areas on Lind's cheeks. But the most disturbing of it all to Celveria was the emotionless look Lind gave to her. It seemed like this was nothing to Lind. Lind walked towards Celveria, who stepped back. She stood still as Lind just moved past her. Fearful of looking back at Lind, Celveria watched as the burning building collapsed completely. The sounds of the wreckage snapped her out of her daze and thoughts. _

_She followed Lind silently out of the camp. The two walked in silence through a burning forest. Although Celveria was unsure where Lind was going, she obediently followed her apprentice without saying a word. From the sky another spell had exploded, it shook the ground beneath the pair as they continued on. Shortly after this explosion cheerful shouts could be heard from Valkyrie overhead. This was all the confirmation Celveria needed that the battle ended in favor of the silver wings. Feeling relieved by this she walked besides the still stoic Lind. _

_When Lind came to a halt Celveria turned to her confused, then looked ahead to where Lind's eyes were anchored. Suddenly all of her questions were answered in a single glance. In front of Lind and Celveria was the young Valkyrie Lind saw fall from the sky, lying motionless. Celveria knelt in front of the girl. In the most respectful manner possible Celveria evened out her body, placed her hands over her chest, then fixed uniform by removing any abnormalities that went against Valkyrie dress codes. Lastly she gently closed the girl's eyes before standing back up. _

"_This was the first time you saw a goddess perish," Celveria said, not asking a question but explaining it to herself. Although Celveria knew this, she was given a nod from Lind to confirm. Celveria looked down, disappointed that both of them had to experience that without the proper psychological training, if such a thing existed. When she looked to Lind again, Celveria spoke softly and as if she had ice water in her veins. "War is an ugly thing and this is not some bedtime story where the good guys win because good guys win. This war is a harsh reminder of that truth on the lessons about the coldness of reality. In reality good guys are going to die; there is no avoiding that. She may have been the first sister silver wing you see give up her life in this forsaken war and as tragic as it is for me to say and you to hear, she will not be the last."_

_Lind took in the information, still appearing very stoic as she also stood beside the fallen maiden and looked upon her. At least now she looked as though she were sleeping, though the reddened hole in the stomach section of the young Valkyries uniform was the bitter reminder otherwise. "Mistress." Celveria turned her head to Lind and waited for her to speak again. "What was her name? I never got to meet her," Lind asked in a monotone manner, not daring to look away from her fallen sister._

_Celveria got a good look at the girl. "Her name is Leilynn. She is an apprentice Valkyrie, one of our younger recruits." Celveria looked away from the girl. "What a waste," she thought to herself._

"_It's nice to meet you Leilynn." Lind smiled sadly. While she spoke, her eyes returned to their natural blue color._

_Celveria smiled proudly at her Lind. "Well said, Lind. I am sure she would have been overjoyed to befriend you. Your words will no doubt aid her in her passing."_

"_I feel, I feel like I'm going to explode. Feelings of sadness and pain are colliding within me. How do I stop this pain of loss I have?" Lind asked Celveria with a hint of desperation._

"_The answer to that is an enigma to all Valkyrie_**s**_. I wish I had an answer for you. That terrible feeling you have, I share it," Celveria said while gripping Lind's shoulder. Lind dropped her poleaxe and fell to her knees. Celveria followed and embraced her in a hug. She wrapped one arm around Lind's waist, pulling Lind close, her other hand resting upon the top of Lind's head. She hugged Lind like a mother would a daughter in distress. "I have learned that having friends to cry with helps though," Celveria whispered. Lind buried her face in her mistress' uniform, and followed the advice given to her. Celveria lowered her head over Lind's and also had shed her own tears in memory of Leilynn. Above the cheerful shouts from the surviving Valkyries continued, caught in the moment and so blissfully ignorant of the aftermath from the battle below them._

_Xxxxx_

Lind woke up and glanced once at Keiichi before leaving his room. She looked around the temple, discovering Hild and Belldandy both had fallen asleep in their respective rooms. "It's good to see you about again Lind," Belldandy said warmly from a sleeping position as Lind began to close the door to her room.

Lind entered the room and closed the door behind her while Belldandy sat up. Lind sat down in front of Belldandy, not sure what to say to her friend. "I-I'm not really good at apologizing." Lind looked away from Belldandy, finding interest in the plainly painted walls surrounding the two. Before when I lashed out at you I-"

"Lind," Belldandy interrupted in a gentle manner. When Lind looked back to Belldandy she continued. "Keiichi is a precious friend to me. Curing Keiichi, it's important to me. I understand why you acted how you did." Belldandy smiled and tilted her head cutely. "There is nothing for me to forgive."

Lind remembered her times with Celveria as Belldandy said this. "It's a shame mistress Celveria never got to meet you. The two of you could have become great friends."

"Sometime then, we can speak of her. I can learn of her through you Lind," Belldandy said to Lind. "She isn't completely gone you know. She lives on in the memories of you and the others blessed to know and call her friend."

Lind stared at Belldandy in shock for a moment as if she just discovered something but quickly returned to her calm, neutral facial expression. "She lives on through my memories… I wonder if that's what they are after."

Belldandy looked confused as Lind spoke to herself. "Please share your thoughts."

"As we know the Dreamweaver has been taking only select fragments from people in this realm. Could it be the ones responsible are trying to recreate a god or goddess by gathering the memories of the one they intend to revive? Even if his or her appearance is changed by being given a new body, if the memories are added to this new appearance wouldn't it still be that person? If the one doing this believes memories are the defining factors in making a person who they are then it stands to reason that the one responsible is gathering memories to revive someone. The question is who?" Lind said while thinking hard about this.

"There is one problem with that theory though Lind. A person from this realm is unlikely to have high enough quality memories of a god or goddess for a successful revival of this type. There is still another piece to this puzzle we are missing. Once we learn this last missing piece, then we can understand the reasons behind what has been happening," Belldandy explained. The two sat for a while, recalling all they had learned to try and discover this last clue that continued to elude them.

Xxxxx

The girl with the jean jacket and pants stepped out of the train station with Nekomi Station labeled on the stain glass of its doors. She walked to the curb, set down her box of possessions and waved for a taxi. She entered, shoving her box into the other passenger seat. "To Nekomi Institute of Technology please," She requested rather cheerfully as she closed the door.

"You got it missy." He pulled away once she was buckled into her seat. "So you're going to be in town long?" The driver asked looking at her from his mirror.

"Moving here actually, I enrolled into NIT and will be attending classes at the beginning of the next semester. Also I'm going to visit family while I am at it." The girl smiled mischievously.

The driver chuckled at her expression. "Sounds like you will keep things lively for the folks at home."

"Absolutely," she told with thumbs up.

"Well good for you. People need some excitement in their lives from time to time. NIT is a great place to study at. I have a daughter myself who is attending. She writes to me from time to time, says nothing but good things. Especially lately, since the current campus queen has found some competition. Apparently the attention of the school has begun to shift to favor two others."

"Is that so?" The girl said trying to act interested, though the tone of her voice spoke otherwise. "Perhaps I will run into your daughter sometime also then." The driver went into his wallet when they stopped at a red light and handed his passenger a picture. "She's pretty. You must be proud." She said leaning over to hand the picture back.

"Oh yeah I am. And smart too. She was blessed twice some would say." The drive was quiet after wards, until they arrived at NIT. After paying her tab and giving the man a decent tip, she grabbed her box and looked on at the NIT campus.

"_It's larger then I had thought. Hope I can find the motor club quickly,_" she thought to herself as she passed the front gate and began her explorations of the campus grounds.

Xxxxx

"Was that Lind I heard in there?" Hild asked playfully as she opened the door to Belldandy's room, not even bothering to knock first. Inside Hild saw the two goddess; they were still thinking about the taken memories. "Way to kill the mood you two," Hild scolded as she sat down with them. Belldandy poured Hild a cup of tea. "Well, no matter. This is still great. We can proceed with our plans now."

"Our plan? I didn't remember it that way," Lind said to Hild sharply.

"Lind…" Belldandy whispered. The last thing she wanted was for another fight between the two to break out.

"Insignificant details," Hild quickly said to try and cover Lind's hostile words while smiling. Though the idea of a second fight with Lind could prove amusing, she knew they had more important matters to attend to for the time being. She couldn't afford to waste any more time the way the gate was now. "We can fight to our hearts contents after this is over. For now let's continue on, alright?" Hild offered a hand in truce.

Lind stared at Hild with contempt. "Belldandy informed me of the plans about tracking the Dreamweaver down and about the plan to attack the mines where it has decided to hide out." Hild put her hand down, knowing Lind had no intention to shake on the agreement. "Before we go though there is another we should add to our team. Both Hild and Belldandy looked at Lind intrigued.

"Who do you have in mind and what can this person do for us?" Hild asked flatly, feeling annoyed for having her truce ignored blatantly by Lind.

Lind smirked; glad she had decided to make a second wish here. "Sayoko Mishima. She is a citizen of Nekomi with a vast amount of influence in the area along with personal resources. She can provide support as well as deal with the other people living around the mine while we go about this attack."

Hild nodded approvingly. "Fair enough, you've made your point." Belldandy smiled, agreeing with the idea. She knew Sayoko was a good person at heart, even if her methods needed improving. She considered this to be the influences from Sayoko's cousin, someone she had little respect for. With Sayoko on the team it helped to put Belldandy's mind at ease. She could count on Sayoko to keep the people innocent in this safe while they fought.

"Don't try anything funny with Sayoko." Lind warned. "She is under my protection."

Hild raised her hands up. "I'll be a good girl for you Lind I promise. Sayoko and I will be the best of friends." Hild smiled and giggled mischievously.

Lind huffed at Hild's blatantly playful voice that just shouted it was one big lie. She decided it was best to leave before she lost control of herself and attacked Hild again. While Keiichi was in this state, she was in no mood for jokes or silliness more than usual.

Xxxxx

In front of an open fireplace Sayoko sat in a reclining chair while reading one of her NIT text books. Outside the clouds darkened some and the wind picked up. Sayoko got up to shut the door to the balcony. As she was close it a bolt of lightning streaked past her, startling her. "Hello!" Hild shouted in an obnoxiously loud voice. Sayoko turned to see Lind, Belldandy, and Hild in a group together.

"Normal people would have knocked you know," Sayoko scolded as she set her book down.

"Normal is boring," Hild said as she wandered off, inspecting the various items and furniture in the room.

Meanwhile Belldandy and Lind approached Sayoko. "Sorry for the sudden intrusion," Belldandy apologized sincerely, giving a bow to back these words up.

"Lind, Belldandy. What a pleasant surprise. Don't worry about it. I had planned to replace this rug soon anyways," Sayoko said, noting the burn mark from the group's flashy entrance. Sayoko sat down and the goddesses followed. "So what can I do for you three? Considering your serious faces it's obviously not for a social visit."

Hild whistled loudly as she inspected the door to a cabinet. She ran her finger over the designs on the elegant looking hardwood. "These are some classy pieces. I assume all handmade?" Sayoko nodded to her. "I respect your tastes, even if you do look boring with that uptight suit."

Sayoko choked at the rude, carefree remark Hild made. "So who's your friend?" She asked, sounding less than amused.

"Please forgive her; Hild is a rather direct person at times," Belldandy explained to Sayoko. "She just does what she wants, how she wants. It's best you do not be cross with her." A lesson Belldandy had learned bitterly.

"We need your help Sayoko." Lind interrupted, wanting to get to the reason of the visit. "As I had mentioned before about when we made our agreement I made you aware of something otherworldly attacking people."

Sayoko nodded. "I have been covering it for you as best I can, as per our agreement."

"We have new information on this matter. We discovered the one responsible and have found it has been making a nest in an abandoned mining site not far from Nekomi. However when we go to it, things may get noisy, if you understand what I mean," Lind said. "Any assistance on this you can give could give would be appreciated, though we are on a schedule."

"So you need this done as swiftly as possible. Having time would be too easy I suppose," Sayoko complained. Lind and Belldandy looked away shamefully while Sayoko thought about it and looked at the clocks. She noted it was 09:32 "Give me ten hours to arrange things. When I am ready I shall contact you." Lind stood up with Belldandy.

"Thank you for your help Sayoko, you're a good friend," Belldandy said to her warmly.

At about the same time Hild entered the sitting room holding fancy looking black underwear. Sayoko turned and blushed furiously as she walked over to Hild. "I take back what I said about you being boring if you actually are bold enough to wear things like these." Hild laughed at the look on Sayoko's face. Sayoko tried to grab the clothing while Hild them over her head. With her height advantage over Sayoko she was unable to reach her clothing, even when jumping.

Belldandy floated up towards Hild and took the clothing back and gave it to Sayoko while giving Hild a disappointed look. "Sometimes I find it hard to believe you're the ruler of demons." Lind said flatly while Sayoko went into her bedroom.

"These people are so weird it's frustrating." Sayoko placed the clothing back in her dresser and re-entered the sitting room, closing the door to her bedroom behind her. Looking around she noticed her company had left already. She sighed as she went to her phone. "_Might as well get started with their request…"_

_Xxxxx_

With nothing to do but prepare for tonight each prepared in a way of their way. Belldandy was practicing the notes to her singing magic. As she sang, wildlife fell asleep at the sound. At the other end of the courtyard Hild created low intensity bolts of lightning and flicked them at Lind who tried to deflect them with her weapon. All the while she tried to fight off the effects from Belldandy's singing. This was proving quite the challenge but she welcomed the exercise. It took her mind off what had happened with Keiichi while she brushed up on her fighting technique. For Hild there was not much to be gained by this being the most capable fighter of the three. She just amused herself, trying to zap Lind in embarrassing places. First by trying to cause Lind's hairs to stand on end, then she began aiming for sensitive spots on the body.

The exercises were brought to a halt when the front door bell rang. "Well now is as good of a time to stop this I suppose," Hild said as she floated to the ground.

"I'll prepare us lunch. We will need our strength when we go," Belldandy informed the others as she walked back inside.

"I will remain here until then. I wish to practice some more," Lind said. She was determined to be at her best for Keiichi when they went after the Dreamweaver.

"I guess that means I get to welcome the guest then." Hild smiled as she began to walk inside.

"_Maybe I spoke too soon," _Lind thought as she began to perform a kata with her weapon, wondering what Hild might do to the unsuspecting soul at the door.

As Hild approached the front door the bell rang again. "Show some patience will you!" She shouted irritated as she opened the door.

In front of her was the girl in the jean jacket and pants with her box of items. She was taken back a bit by Hild's clothing and the revealing nature of it. "Is that any way to talk to a welcomed guest?" She snapped back.

"You have spunk, I'll give you that but what makes you think your welcome?" Hild asked leaning over the girl, clearly showing the difference in height and authority between the two.

"It's my brother's house, of course I'm welcome. Who are you?" The girl demanded. _"I didn't know Kei-chan liked older girls. He probably got suckered in by her appearance."_

"I'm visiting for a few days. I was allowed to stay until my trip in Nekomi is done with," Hild lied while observing the box on the floor beside her. Hild discretely used her magic to look through the box and noticed a variety of non perishable foods in it. "And who are you?"

"Glad you asked. I'm Megumi Morisato! Keiichi's little sister," She explained proudly and made thumbs up motion at Hild while smiling.

"Is that so?" Hild stood up and hid her hands behind her. With a flick of her wrist the room where Keiichi and the others attacked by the Dreamweaver were was shut and locked from the inside. "Well Megumi, what can I do for you?" Hild asked, all the while smiling as if nothing was wrong.

"I was hoping to stay here for a while until I find a place of my own. I'm going to enroll in NIT this fall with Keiichi you see." Megumi explained as she opened the box beside her and showed the contents to Hild. "I bring offerings," she added.

Hild stepped aside to allow Megumi in, who closed the door behind herself. "Keiichi is out for a few days, but I doubt he would have any objection to you staying here for a while," Hild said while the two walked past the door to the room Hild had locked not long ago.

Hild took Megumi to the kitchen where Belldandy was preparing some food. "Welcome," Belldandy greeted in her usual brown dress with an apron over it.

At the same time Lind entered the kitchen in her Valkyrie uniform. This earned Lind an odd glance from Megumi. "_I don't know if I should be happy, angry or worried for Keiichi. He has so many pretty girls for roommates, though they have odd tastes in clothing."_

"Who is she?" Lind asked to anyone in the room quick enough to answer.

"I'm Megumi; I'll be staying here for a few days. Maybe longer, depending on how long it takes to find an apartment. It's nice to meet you all." She bowed to the other girls.

Lind looked at her confused. "She is Keiichi's younger sister," Hild clarified.

Megumi watched in surprise as the joy in the room seemed to have faded as Lind and Belldandy looked at her. "_Did I do something wrong?"_ Megumi thought as the smiles from Belldandy and Lind vanished and both became unusually quiet. Suddenly Belldandy turned around and began chopping again. Lind went to her room without another word. Neither goddess was able to bring themselves to look at her since what had happened to Keiichi. The guilt they had felt just renewed itself in both of them knowing now he has a sister.

"Don't mind them. They just miss Keiichi," Hild said as she stood up. "Come on, I'll show your around the temple grounds," Hild offered as she waited at the door.

"Sounds great!" Megumi got up and followed Hild out of the room. When Megumi left Belldandy stopped chopping and Holy Bell came out and tried her best to console Belldandy. Both had tears in their eyes, now having just one more reason to feel guilty and sorry for what happened to Keiichi. The worst of it was that Belldandy knew she should apologize to Megumi but that would reveal to Megumi who Hild, Lind, and she really were. The last thing they needed was this information becoming public.

Lind entered her room and shut the door behind her. She looked at the swimsuit she had worn at the swimsuit contest. Memories of the contest went through her mind. Thinking back on it she realized now she actually had fun then for the first time in quite a while. She remembered the shy look Keiichi gave her when she posed for him on the stage. This brought some color to her cheeks as well as a happy grin. These thoughts were broken when the phone in her room rang. She stood to listen into it. "You're ready Sayoko? That's excellent news. We will be there shortly." Lind listened in and rolled her eyes. "No we won't damage any property this time when we arrive." Lind hung up and left to go to the kitchen. "Sorry to interrupt but we need to go see Sayoko again. She has everything set up for us." Belldandy nodded and followed Lind to the gates as the goddesses passed Megumi and Hild.

Lind rubbed the edge of her noise with her thumb. Hild nodded, understanding the message as the goddesses went to Keiichi's bike. "I need to go now. I trust you can find your way back to your room," Hild said then walked away to meet the goddesses. Belldandy held onto a hand from Lind and Hild and changed into her GRO clothing. The three then disappeared into a mirror on Keiichi's bike. Megumi began to go back inside when she noticed a flash of light appear around the corner where Hild had just gone to. She did not see Hild there, just Keiichi's bike. "_Went out huh... Since when does he go anywhere without his bike?"_ Megumi thought suspiciously. She went back inside and noticed the shut door she passed when she entered the temple for the first time. She tried to open it only to find it locked. When she put her ear to the door she heard nothing. She tried even harder this time to pull the door open, to the point where she began to strain herself. Even with this effort the doors still did not budge. Figuring it was locked from the inside, she went to the room Hild said she could stay in. She had some questions to ask the girls when they returned.

Xxxxx

"Here is a map of the interior of the mines. I have marked the entrances, both on the sides of the mines as well as any holes in the ceiling of the structure," Sayoko said as she and the higher powers stood around the table with the map on it.

Hild touched the map and it glowed a reddish color. When that faded a blinking dot appeared in an open section of the map. It was away from the main area of the mines and far in the back of it. They noticed there was no exit in that chamber. Also there was no other ways out of the area except the tunnel that connected that chamber with the rest of the mine. "It's not surprising the Dreamweaver is in the far end of the mines. It the easiest to defend, however there is nowhere to escape either. It will be easy to capture."

Lind looked at the rest of the mine. She marked three positions on the map with her finger. Blue blinking areas appeared on the map. "If you're right about the one behind this is a Valkyrie, then chances are she will be in one of those positions."

Belldandy smiled happily at seeing Lind taking charge like usual. Things were almost back to normal for her. All she needed now was Keiichi back and everything would be happy again.

Hild looked at the spots Lind marked. "Alright then, we should each pick one spot to investigate."

"I will enter this entrance from the ceiling of the mines and head to the third spot," Lind said. Sayoko and Hild nodded, not questioning it.

Belldandy however looked more concerned. She noticed the area Lind would be at within the mines were the closest to where the Dreamweaver slept. "Lind… Please don't do anything bad to the Dreamweaver. It was only doing what it was told by the one truly responsible."

Lind stared hard at the map ignoring Belldandy. Sayoko looked across the table at Lind. "It attacked Morisato, didn't it?" Lind looked back at her, and then looked away. "I see. Do what you feel you must then, Lind. I just hope you don't come to regret your actions later." Belldandy looked at Sayoko unbelievingly. It made no sense to her why Lind and Sayoko were okay with hurting the creature, even if this creature had been responsible for the attack on Keiichi.

Belldandy took the next closest spot to the Dreamweaver. If her area where the Valkyrie might be was empty she was determined to stop Lind from hurting the creature. That left Hild for the remaining spot closest to the entrance.

"Belldandy and I will enter together at this entrance. We will branch out at this tunnel. After your area has been cleared make your way to Belldandy's designated spot and I will do the same. That way we will close up any unsearched areas if none of us locate the Valkyrie in the designated spots," Hild said to the group as she pointed at the tunnels connecting the various chambers.

"This looks like it could work. While you three are in the mines I have hired a crew to settle around the area and have created the cover story that there may be a new vein of gold that has been discovered and we're looking into it. If it gets noisy from your magic in there then I can tell the people of the nearby village it is just my people using dynamite to expand the mines quickly. It should be enough to quell any suspicions," Sayoko said. She stood up and led them to the fire escape. "If you'll follow me, I have a ride waiting for us."

The four went up to the roof to find a helicopter waiting. Belldandy smiled and held her hands together. She gasped happily at the surprise and the excitement for being able allowed to fly in it. "This will be so much fun, don't you think Hild?"

She nodded back at Belldandy. "I am interested in how it operates," Hild said as they stepped in and sat down in the passenger seats.

Sayoko put on a pair of headphones that were identical to the ones the pilot wore. "We're ready to go. Take us up." The pilot nodded and the rotor blades above began to spin. Once they were at the correct speed Sayoko buckled herself into her seat. Lind and Belldandy followed her lead. Hild was too busy looking around to care. Not that she would put her seat belt on had she noticed.

The vehicle lifted off and Hild looked out the open door to see the people below. She grabbed onto a bar attached to the roof of the helicopter close to the door and stepped out onto the landing gear. "This feels great!" Hild shouted as her hair and the freely hanging fabrics on her clothing billowed in the wind as they flew. "Hello everybody!" She shouted below and waved at the few people who looked up to see the helicopter.

"We will be there in about fifteen minutes," Sayoko shouted to inform the group. Belldandy watched out the window while Lind thought about nothing more than repaying the Dreamweaver for its hostile acts on Keiichi. The rest of the ride continued on in silence except from Hild who spent the entire time hanging out the door.

"There are the mines, set us down nearby." Sayoko spoke into the headphone microphone. The pilot found an open field not far from the mines and touched down there. When it set down the four got out. "Wait for us here. We will return soon." The pilot acknowledged Sayoko by shutting down the engines and the rotors above slowly came to a halt. "I will meet you three in town when you are ready to return to Nekomi." Hild, Lind and Belldandy nodded. "Good luck everyone."

"Thank you, Sayoko." Belldandy hugged Sayoko then went to catch up to Hild while Lind went a different direction towards her entrance.

Xxxxx

Belldandy and Hild enter the mines together as planned. "Do you really believe Lind will harm the Dreamweaver?" Belldandy asked as they walked together.

"It would seem so. Can you blame her? It doesn't take a mind reader to know she likes, possibly loves Keiichi. It brought harm to someone she cares for. This moment of revenge she's determined to bring to it could give her some peace of mind."

"Even still, it seems wrong." Belldandy said sadly.

"Perhaps you might think differently if someone you cared for were harmed by another," Hild said to her. "Would you sell out a friend for personal gain, probably not. Would you harm another to save a friend, maybe. Would you do a terrible thing to stop your own grief or despair? No one can truly know the answer to that until faced with the question personally. It's no different with Lind."

Belldandy walked on with Hild, thinking in silence. She found herself questioning herself now. Wondering what she would do if she were in Lind's position. It's true she admired Keiichi for his personality but did she care for him enough to go this far like Lind.

The two entered the chamber at the end of the tunnel they were in to find two Valkyries fighting. One had a spear for a weapon, the other had a broadsword. The two were fighting up close with their weapons, occasionally trying to get in a cheap shot with a quick spell. Hild noticed the Valkyrie with the sword also had an orb attached to her uniform. That orb had the exact same marking as the one found on the open field. Hild knew that was the orb keeping the gate to Niflheim. The other had held numerous pyramid like objects around the waist section of her uniform. The pyramid items looked as if they broken in half at the base. "Well this is a surprise; here I was only expecting one naughty Valkyrie Bell-chan."

Both Valkyries looked at Belldandy and Hild. "Hild! How?" The Valkyrie with the spear and pyramid objects asked. The second Valkyrie flew away immediately hearing that name, with the spear wielder not far behind.

"Naughty little girls. Bell-chan, those pyramid objects are the memory fragments you want, but they have been cut in half. They should have been in diamond shapes. Chase that Valkyrie holding them, the other is mine." Belldandy nodded and the two flew off in different directions after leaving through an exit in the roof. Hild flew after her target towards the East while Belldandy went to the north.

Xxxxx

Lind flew up onto the top of the mines. She looked down into the entrance, convinced the area was clear she spawned her poleaxe in front of her and grabbed it when it became a solid item. As she was about to jump down into the mine she noticed two Valkyries fly out. A few seconds behind them Hild and Belldandy appeared, each chasing after one of the Valkyries. Lind held her curiosity as to why there were two Valkyries fleeing, for now she had more pressing matters on her agenda. Lind's eyes changed to a golden color and she leapt down in the hole before her. She then went straight toward the chamber where the Dreamweaver slept.

Xxxxx

Belldandy flew low to the ground while after the Valkyrie she pursued. "You're not too bad for someone from the GRO, I didn't think you lot could fly this fast." The Valkyrie complimented noting Belldandy's clothing. "Still no match for me however." The Valkyrie pointed the tip of her spear above Belldandy and cast a water based spell. Waves seemed to fall from the sky and crashed down on Belldandy. The Valkyrie smiled and began to fly at a more relaxed pace. "Nothing personal."

A few seconds later a shadowy silhouette of a human figure fled ahead of her and Belldandy appeared in front of the Valkyrie. Holy Bell joined the pursuit and the two began to sing together. The song's effect was felt by the Valkyrie. Her flight speed fell as she felt herself losing energy, as if her energy was being siphoned out of her. The Valkyrie changed course, trying to get away, but now Belldandy was easily able to keep up. "Please surrender, I do not wish to harm you," Belldandy begged her while Holy Bell continued to sing in the direction of the Valkyrie.

"N-Not an option. There's so much you don't understand. Too much mystery behind those who support Yggdrasil," The Valkyrie wearily said. She began to falter, she began drop closer to the ground.

"Surrender and explain it to us, please we are both goddesses. We should not fight like this," Belldandy pleaded, as she closed in on her target.

"You serve Yggdrasil and have ties to the silver wings, you cannot be trusted." The Valkyrie said, as she caught herself from falling asleep for a third time she went to use one of the boosters on her uniform to move out of Belldandy's singing range. Seeing the Valkyrie trying to touch the yellow stripe on her uniform Belldandy cast a shield around the boosters on both sides of the uniform. This prevented use of them. "Not bad…" The Valkyrie said as her spear disappeared and she fell asleep in midair.

"Oh no!" Belldandy shouted, pushing herself to fly as fast as possible. Catching the Valkyrie as she fell. Belldandy winced in pain as from being knocked off her feet saving the Valkyrie to have her land on top of her. Belldandy rolled her off her and on the ground. She stood up besides to Holy Bell. The two held hands. "Thank you for your help." Holy Bell smiled and disappeared back inside of Belldandy. Belldandy used her magic to levitate the Valkyrie beside her and she flew the two of them back to the mines.

When she returned to the spot they had agreed to meet within the mines Belldandy discovered Hild sitting on top of a tied up Valkyrie. "Bell-chan! I see you were successful with your prey. Nicely done."

Belldandy smiled and the Valkyrie beneath Hild tried to struggle free. She ended this by electrocuting the uncooperative Valkyrie, putting an end to any further resistance. Belldandy looked angrily at Hild, who just shrugged. "Relax, she is only unconscious. I obey the doublet system rules."

Belldandy's expression softened some but was still a bit saddened by the display of violence.

Footsteps were heard; both Hild and Belldandy looked towards the source as Lind stepped out of the shadows. She looked peaceful for the first time since Keiichi had been attacked. "The Dreamweaver, has it been dealt with?" Hild asked in all seriousness.

Lind nodded. "Phantom beasts are not protected by the doublet system." Hild nodded at the outcome while Belldandy looked dismayed at Lind. She just lost a huge amount of respect for her fellow goddess for acting in such a manner. "Also I discovered these in its nest." Lind opened her hand and revealed several yellow pyramid shaped objects.

"This Valkyrie I chased had identical items. However the ones she had are blue in color," Belldandy explained taking the pyramids away from the sleeping Valkyrie and showing them to Lind.

Lind looked at the Valkyrie Belldandy chased. "I know her," Lind said.

"_Let me escort you to our mistress' Celveria's study madam Valkyrie," A female voice called from behind Lind. She had unusually dark orange hair and matching eyes._

"She used to work within Celveria's mansion as a maid there. After Celveria passed away I lost touch with her. I had no idea what had happened to her, I was unaware she even had become a Valkyrie." Lind explained.

Hild smiled hearing the story; she had discovered why all of a sudden the Valkyrie was gathering memory fragments. She decided to give them a push in the right direction then let Belldandy and Lind discover the rest for themselves. "Bell-chan! The blue fragments they are memories that belong to a god or goddess. The yellow ones, they are memories that belong to a human."

"Why would a Valkyrie want to divide the two?" Belldandy asked Hild who just shrugged. Lind squinted, she could tell Hild knew more but refused to tell them.

"Well, since we all got what we wanted lets help each other one last time, shall we?" Hild asked sweetly, resting her head on her hands.

"What do you need from us now, this better not be another trick." Lind told firmly to Hild.

Hild spun the blue orb she had gotten from the Valkyrie she had chased on the tip of her finger. "This annoying thing is what has sealed off the gate to my realm. Unfortunately only a person from heaven can release the gate now. So, I will restore the memories to your precious Keiichi along with the other victims, and in exchange you unlock the gate for me. Deal?"

Belldandy smiled at Hild, though weary of her tricks now. "Very well Hild, I promise to open the gate once you restore the memories of the others." Hild nodded, trusting Belldandy knowing she could not lie. She tossed the orb to Belldandy.

"We should get going now, Sayoko is waiting for us." Lind said while pocketing both halves of the memory fragment pieces. Hild and Belldandy agreed. Lind picked up the two incapacitated Valkyries and the three walked out of the mines together.

Xxxxx

"Okay she's gone," Lind said. They watched as Megumi left the temple and drove down the street on Keiichi's motorcycle. "Let's make this quick, she will return shortly." After Hild unlocked the door to where the Dreamweaver's victims were kept Lind handed over each yellow memory fragment.

Hild and Lind entered first, with Belldandy behind. Hild used her magic to draw arcane circles around the room and chanted in her realm's language. Belldandy and Lind watched as one by one the yellow fragments disappeared. When the last one disappeared so did the circles on the walls. One by one the victims woke up, none of them remembering what happened. Belldandy and Lind escorted them all out of the temple where a bus was waiting to take them back to Nekomi, thanks to Sayoko.

"Now it's Keiichi's turn," Lind told Hild eagerly. Hild repeated the chanting. The fragment that belonged to Keiichi disappeared. She and Belldandy left the room leaving Lind alone with Keiichi as he began to stir awake.

"I fulfilled my end of the bargain, now it's your turn." Belldandy nodded and Holy Bell appeared for the third time in a single day. The two sang together, while doing so the orb began to crack, then shattered in front of the two of them. The magic that held the gate to Hild's realm shut had been broken.

"It's done. You're free to return," Belldandy informed Hild.

The marking on Hild's face glowed and a gateway opened in front of her. "It's been a blast playing with you silly goddesses. Let's do this again sometime." Belldandy smiled as Hild began to walk towards the gate. She stopped in front of the portal. "Oh and tell Urd I said hello for me the next time you see her will you Bell-chan."

"I promise," Belldandy said warmly and waved as Hild walked through the gate. It closed and disappeared after Hild stepped in it.

Xxxxx

Keiichi's eyes open and he looked around to see Lind sitting beside him. She looked as if she were about to break down and start crying right there. "Lind, what's wrong." Keiichi nearly panicked, wondering if she was going to hit him.

She sniffled and hugged him tightly. "Nothing's wrong Keiichi-kun. I just missed you was all," she whispered to him. Keiichi smiled and closed his eyes and returned her hug. Once again that warm feeling Keiichi gave Lind when they touched, the same she began to love in the short time she knew him had once again found its way to her.

"Not that I mind this but has something happened I should know about?" Keiichi asked, slowly pulling away from the hug to look at her to her disappointment.

Lind's fingers twitched nervously as she set her hands in her lap. "Keiichi, I…" She whispered. Keiichi moved closer to hear her; this made her even more nervous. Within her gloves her palms broke into a cold sweat. She became nervous about what she was about to ask, or more likely the answer she thought, she knew would follow. "I failed you. I let that thing get to you." Lind stopped, tempted to just read his mind for the answer. Ultimately she couldn't bring herself to get her answer in this way. He had every right to tell this to her personally. "Are you angry with me for this? I'll understand if you even hate me. Who could blame you if you did, you have every right too." Lind said sadly while looking at him.

"How can I? I was the one who agreed to this, against your better judgment." Lind started to smile at him hearing this. "I know you tried your best to do so. I like you very much for it. I know under your rough and tough personality you really do care what happens."

Lind sat for a moment to let that register in her mind. She then smiled brightly and knocked him over with another hug. When she noticed he was aware of what happened she kissed him lightly over his lips, catching him complete off guard and speechless. Lind got up feeling happy with herself after that personal moment, leaving Keiichi's mind to catch up to what she had done.

Xxxxx

* * *

Author Thanks.

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

dbfox007, Kaiser969, Juseifudo, Another Duck, CodelyokoFan23, BrazeRancor, KTWizard, bleach540, Chargone, The Mad shoe1.

For those who liked my story enough to put it on alert.

KTWizard, Mr Thanatos, Chargone.

For the one man who added added my story to alert list

Protodermis.

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

mythix, Angelboy1989.

Here's to those who added me to favorite author list.

dbfox007, Another Duck.

Those Awesome enough to add me to author alert

dbfox007, BladeRy.

And to the lot who help me along this story journey.

mjnousak, Bob, Another Duck.


	8. Ah! An ill tempered goddess!

Back for another chapter at long last. Sorry for my absence I've had a series of unfortunate troubles over here. Though things are looking up now and I can move on with the story some more. Also some more good news that i was happy about was I was accepted to Goddess Miyaku Team. A group that translates the AMG canon so be sure to look for my screename in the credits if you follow GMT's version of the manga we all know and love so. Lastly I'd like to give a late, yet very warm welcome into 2011. I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.

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Keiichi opened his eyes and looked up at the beige ceiling. That was all it took to know that he wasn't home at the temple. As well as the room was provisioned, to him it still seemed like the lobby of a five star hotel. The only things that he really appreciated were the fresh flowers that gave a gentle freshness reminding him of the temple.

While it had only been a week since Keiichi's recovery, it seemed like an eternity, a week because he had to keep what happened from Megumi. After he'd woken up and recovered from Lind's greeting he'd listened to what had happened. One quick call to Sayoko and it was arranged for him to be away. He looked at the time on the clock radio and realized that he had a few minutes. He shut his eyes and relived the hug and kisses from Lind, then put them back deep into his mind to be enjoyed later when he was alone again.

His assurance that he actually had some alone time came during the first two days, at the end of the first he had been lying with his eyes shut in the bath when the mirror flashed; the light barely registered as he continued to relax. Slowly however he became aware of another presence, and when he opened his eyes it was to see a blushing Belldandy staring at him. She turned and realized that he had opened his eyes gave an "Eeep" and vanished back into the mirror.

The next morning having a shower his feet suddenly felt cold and he was joined under the warm water by Lind. The water in her face made her turn her head down, it was then she realized where she was "Sorry" she mumbled and sank back into the ice. Her fixed eyes causing her head to rotate as she sank out of view. After that a mirror and bowl of water had been set out in the living room to allow for easier access.

He got up and started his preparations for the day, after a shower shave and brushing his teeth he was getting dressed when he heard someone in the living room. Still half dressed he poked his head round the door to see Lind setting down a few filled bento boxes. He felt his spirits rise as they did every day, that he wouldn't have breakfast alone, in truth a little higher than normal that it was Lind turn to have breakfast with him.

"Good morning" he called as he turned to carry on dressing, his voice fading as he turned caused Lind to look disappointed in his direction.

"Do you plan to meet Megumi acting so casually?" Lind asked him as she set out the breakfast onto the table beside her.

Keiichi thought to himself wondering what he should tell her. This had been plaguing him for the week he spent locked away in one of Sayoko's many get away homes outside of Nekomi.

"She is going to have a lot of questions to ask after all." Keiichi made a discouraged face hearing this. "I know it's not ideal for you but we have no way of knowing how she would handle the truth of the situation. Its better she not know. It is safer for everyone," Lind continued as she entered the bathroom beside him. She kissed him on cheek as he was finishing up. "Good morning Keiichi-kun." Lind smiled at him, and then went back to the other room, leaving him to regain his thoughts as he rubbed the same spot on his face, lost in his private thoughts. "Come on, the food will not eat itself for you." She called out from the other room, snapping him out of his daze.

Keiichi hurried to finish up and entered the only other room in the small apartment. He saw Lind sitting at the table, nearly finished opening a variety of prepared food items. He didn't mind the taste of these items but he missed the home cooked meals. It was just one more thing that kept him longing for his return to the temple later today. "How are you holding up?" He asked as he sat down beside her at the table. She stopped moving the food containers and looked up at him curiously. He chuckled at her, he may have only known her for a few months but he was beginning to be able to read her features. He did not require her mind reading abilities to know something was troubling her. "What's on your mind?"

"It's the other two Valkyries." Lind said simple.

"Both are being held separately at Sayoko's place. You and Belldandy made sure they could not escape easily." Keiichi said as he began to move some Lind's favorite food in front of her.

Lind opened up the one containing black olives, a taste she had recently discovered during her time on the earthrealm. She ate a couple to show her appreciation before setting her chopsticks back down on their rest, otherwise not interested of what was in front of her currently. "That's not what worries me. I find the idea of having to interrogate and treat sister Valkyries as enemies disturbing. There is an unspoken sense of loyalty between us because of the dangerous nature of our office."

"Well the fighting with them is over now. We caught them, so try to cheer up. Things will quiet down with the Dreamweaver gone," Keiichi said as he began his breakfast with a hardboiled egg.

"Things may quiet down for a while but it's far from over Keiichi-kun. The Dreamweaver may have been neutralized however nothing in the magical realms is as it seems, more so with the Valkyries." Keiichi looked at her in a quizzing manner; she could hear his thoughts scrambling for an answer to give her. That alone was enough to boost her spirits slightly, knowing he wanted to support her as much as possible. She needed all of that she could gather right now. "There is still so much that has been left unanswered. At first we assumed the Dreamweaver was attacking just for memories, then towards the end we discover it was for a plan which we still are no closer to discovering. Next, we learn that the Valkyries are fighting with one another and don't know what has divided my companions. I wish I were able to go to the heavens to sort this out directly, or at least bring back some clues on the matter." Keiichi lowered his head hearing this from her. "Ah… I didn't mean it that way." She scooted her chair closer to his; further reinforcing she wanted him with her in a subtle manner while cursing herself. "There is so much we don't know is my point. The things the Valkyrie said while Belldandy pursued her also disturb me. She claims she cannot trust those with connections to a Valkyrie and yet she was one herself and lastly what the two were trying to achieve. It seems to me they have ulterior motives."

"Let's go see the two Valkyries now then. If they are fighting it's important we know what is going on before we proceed further. Otherwise it might turn out pretty bad for us like our first encounter involving this." Keiichi suggested between bites.

"What about Megumi? Didn't you want to see her first?" Lind asked as she stood up and was hastily closing all the containers scattered around the table.

Keiichi got up and went to put on his jacket. "That's true, but Megumi has Belldandy to keep her company, and it shouldn't really take too long to question them. I mean, it's not like we know much to ask about as it is."

Lind took a moment to think it over. "Well if that's how you feel then let's get going." Keiichi nodded to her to begin. Lind focused her attention on a wall of the room and Keiichi could feel the temperature in the room dropping drastically, his breath becoming visible in front of him. As Lind continued to focus the wall she faced towards was frozen over in a thin sheet of ice. She held out a hand for Keiichi to hold. When he did she walked into the wall and the two disappeared. When he did so he felt a strange sensation as if he was being pulled away from the room he was currently in.

Xxxxx

Belldandy sat in her room alone, the door behind her shut. She Touched the television in front of her transforming the standard screen into a connection to her heavenly terminal, she waited until the connection was stable on the old screen then lightly tapped the icon for her sister. An image of a heavenly decorated room appeared on the screen. "Hello Urd, it's Belldandy." She spoke at the television Urd's face appeared in front of the screen and was looking pleasantly surprised.

"Belldandy!" Urd smiled, she smiled hearing from the middle sister. It was a nice diversion from the routine work she was involved with day in and day out. "I heard one of your wishes had been intercepted by a silver wing." Belldandy nodded at this. "And yet you went to try to fulfill the wish anyways? You're being unusually stubborn." Belldandy looked distressed a bit, trying to find a sensible answer. Urd noticed this and eased up. "I'd of probably done the same in your position." The two sat in an awkward silence for a while. "Not that I mind, but why did you call me?" Urd asked.

"I saw Hild, she sends you her greetings." Belldandy said. From the television screen Urd looked less then amused hearing this. "Also, I wish to ask you for a favor? I would appreciate it if you can look into the activities of the silver wings for me. Find out anything you can without drawing attention to yourself."

"Well it does sound like it could be fun but why are you asking this? This seems all rather out of place for a simple wish from the GRO." Urd said, surprised by Belldandy's request.

"When Hild arrived on earth it was because the gate to Nifeliem was closed. She asked for our help to re-open. Doing so we tracked a Dreamweaver to an abandoned mine and discovered two Valkyries fighting. One of them was responsible for the Dreamweaver and the other the gate being closed. Both fled when they saw Hild. I chased down the one that was responsible for Dreamweaver. She mentioned she could not trust me because I have ties to the Valkyrie office. She wouldn't speak to me."

Urd listened in intently. "A Dreamweaver? Well that explains why the pills you asked me to create had disappeared. No doubt the Daimakaicho's doing" Urd said quietly to herself. Belldandy tilted her head which made Urd chuckle a bit at the cute display. "I'll do this for you. Afterwards I'm coming down there with you. I don't like the feeling this is giving me. If it involves the silver wings it's bound to be rough again at some point." Urd said firmly.

"Thank you nee-san, I'll be waiting eagerly for your arrival." Belldandy said. Urd nodded and left the screen, the television screen turned off afterwards.

From outside the room Megumi stood, her ear pressed against the door. She listened in on the conversation the best she could. When she heard the conversation come to an end she quickly left for her room before she was discovered. She turned around the corner just as Belldandy stepped out of the room.

Xxxxx

A frost begins to form over a mirror until it was frozen completely. Afterwards it light up the room Lind steps out of it and Keiichi behind her in a clumsy manner. He nearly falls down after his first unsteady step. Lind catches him before he face-plants himself onto the carpeting below. "What's wrong Keiichi," Lind asks while helping him regain his footing.

Keiichi smiled as he stood up, Lind staying closer than normal, ready to catch him again if needed. "I'm alright, I just feel lightheaded some. I guess people like me aren't as tolerant to being transported magically like you and Belldandy obviously are.

Lind nodded and her posture became more relaxed. She looked around; noticing things had been knocked over and were in a mess. "Stay close Keiichi, she said to him while moving him behind her with a gentle, yet firm push. The two then began to look through room after room. A mess from what normally were tidy rooms served as their guide until they arrived at the kitchen. There they found Sayoko lying on the floor behind the counter.

Keiichi went to Sayoko while Lind turned to stand guard by the door, she would be ready to ambush the one responsible, should they decide to return. "She's alright, just unconscious," Keiichi said aloud. Lind went to Sayoko. As Lind's hands produced a soft white glow Sayoko stirred awake when the light faded.

"Morisato," Sayoko questioned as her blurred vision began to clear itself. She was able to identify Keiichi and Lind behind him, standing beside the doorway once again.

"What happened in here?" Keiichi asked her while helping her to a seat.

"One of the Valkyries managed to get lose. I don't know how but she chased me throughout the apartment." Sayoko winced from the migraine that was now forming. "You two should go check on the other one, I'll be fine."

Lind nodded. "Keiichi." Lind called out than began heading towards the basement area of the house, it was set up in a similar manner to the room Keiichi had been locked in by Sayoko and her cousin before. This didn't help the bad feeling he was getting as they checked the separate rooms the two were in. Lind looked into the first room to find the one collecting the memory fragments still sealed in what looked like a see through cube. She was pounding on its walls, both with her fists and with magic, but to no avail. Even her shouts were muted by the cubes walls. Keiichi scratched the side of his face watching her lips move though he couldn't hear anything.

The other room appeared to Lind as if a large amount of energy was released in the room. She could see a fading aura laced the walls of that room. The captor in this room was no longer around. She sighed inwardly, hoping for more time. "Let's question this one while we can before she also discovers how to crack her prison as well." Lind said as she began to walk out of the room. Keiichi nodded and the two made their way to the makeshift prison room.

When they both arrived Lind touched the wall of the cube she spoke rapidly in a language Keiichi was unable to understand. When Lind was done the cube expanded to include Lind and Keiichi within it. Lind sat down, floating in the air in front of the captive while Keiichi stood beside her. "I've meet you before. Then you never introduced yourself properly at Celveria's mansion when we first meet. You were the one to escort me to her, let's start there." Lind said.

The captive Valkyrie sat there wondering about the two before answering. "I don't see why that should matter." To emphasize her point she knocked on the wall beside her.

"Names are important; anyone would want to know who they are speaking with." Keiichi said and Lind nodded, agreeing.

She glanced for a moment at Keiichi intently. Lind was about to move between the two when her expression softened slightly. "My name is Rist."

"That is Keiichi Morisato," Lind said gesturing toward him. Rist gave him an uninterested glance "And I-"

"I know who you are Lind," Rist interrupted. "I know all names and faces of the ones who served under mistress Celveria."

"If you knew who I was and who were with me then why did you run from Belldandy before?" Lind asked Rist who was still looking as if she were thinking about something.

"You aren't in a trustworthy position. First off you served both sides of this conflict, then afterwards you go and align yourself with the Daimakaicho. I would have been a fool not to flee." Rist said to Lind combatively.

"Both sides, do you mean Heaven and Nifelhiem?" Keiichi asked Rist.

She looked at him in an offended manner. "Stay out of affairs you know nothing about mortal. You should not even be allowed to know of us let alone interact with us."

"What do you mean I served both sides," Lind asked trying to keep Rist attention focused away from Keiichi who took looked to take Rist's comment to heart and looked at Lind with self doubts.

Rist began to laugh at Lind who was finding tougher to restrain herself from punishing Rist due to her poor choices. "You really don't know, do you?" Rist taunted. "This is just too rich, talk about having the wool pulled over your eyes."

Rist was caught by surprise when Lind pinned her against the cube walls, causing them to glow in reaction to the impact. "Talk! When have I served anyone besides the Almighty and heaven?

Rist began to laugh at Lind until her wrist was twisted by her captor. "You don't even know what happened to mistress Celveria; despite the ripples she's been causing lately do you Lind?" Rist asked defiantly through the pain she was feeling.

"Celveria's unit was ambushed by demons near the end of the war," Lind said as she stepped back a bit from Rist.

"Were they now? And who told you that?" Rist asked, feeling amused because of Lind's confusion.

Lind let go of Rist and she rubbed her injured arm. "The Valkyrie who recruited me, she informed me what happened when I was reassigned to her squad." Lind answered. "Why are you asking me this?"

Rist chuckled a bit. "Well this explains why my Dreamweaver was allowed to roam unopposed for as long as it did. Tell me, that unusual strength of yours… is it compensation for your lack of brain cells?" Lind clenched her fist but otherwise remained still at this insult. "Do you honestly believe a Valkyrie of Celveria's caliber would allow herself and fellow silver wings fall into a trap so easily and for a war that was at that point for all intents and purposes, over."

Lind's annoyance before was lost as Lind recalled her side of the events mentioned. While doing so Rist looked toward Keiichi, clearly offended he was still here with Lind and herself. "The way you've been performing Lind, a third class could have done a better job in your position." Keiichi could feel himself becoming annoyed with Rist's seemingly endless wave of insults and mockery.

"Why should we believe this story, what proof do you have to offer?" Lind asked looking back at her once again.

Rist huffed and sat down on the ground. "Only the dream I got a while back. I interrupted it as an instruction to begin gathering memories. Then each time I rested I was given the name of a person of interest to gather memories from.

"A dream isn't much for proof," Keiichi said, the tone in his voice hinting at his uncertainty about this.

Rist looked up at him sinisterly, similar to how when Lind looked right before she would hit him over the back of his head. He backed away from Rist while subconsciously rubbing his head.

"Refrain from doing that again. I alone will punish Keiichi as required," Lind said while moving herself between Rist and Keiichi. Keiichi groaned and imagined himself as a dog belonging to Lind that was being punished for jumping on the table. "Dreams for gods can be a form of cryptic communication between the citizens of heaven." Lind looked back towards Rist. "However Keiichi is correct in his concerns. I have no way of knowing your claims to be true."

Rist looked Lind in the eye in total seriousness. "I have no other proof to offer."

"Come with me Keiichi." Lind walked to the wall of the cube and when he stood beside her the two were allowed to leave it freely.

"What are you thinking you don't want her to hear?" Keiichi asked while looking at Rist who was staring intensely at Keiichi.

"Would you be comfortable with recruiting her? If her dreams continue she could prove useful in validating or disproving her theories. And if by chances Celveria is alive we may very well need her to find my mistress."

Keiichi rubbed his head. "Well it's clear she has contempt for humans, but will she act on them and attack me or something?"

"I do not believe so, you are of no threat to her. It would be illogical for her to attack unprovoked, especially with other goddesses watching over you."

Keiichi thought long and hard about the idea. "Well I suppose so but I think it would be a good idea to set up some kind of protection against her just in case."

Lind nods. "Fair enough, let's return then." Lind and Keiichi return within the cubed area to hear Rist making annoyed groans at them.

"Well, what now?" Rist asked.

"We have considered releasing you and we can discover the truth behind this. If you swear loyalty to us and join our company we may very well be able to discover what fate really befell our mistress and if she is still out there somewhere we can find her with your help. What do you say Rist."

"My only interest is finding Celveria and returning her to her rightful position. If you are doing the same Lind I don't have any reason not to."

Keiichi shook his head. "We've been down this road once with Hild, how can we trust you." He did not want to end up getting crossed a second time so shortly after recovering from the effects it happened the first time.

"I am not Hild!" Rist nearly shouted in anger, insulted at being compared to a demon. "I swear it on my honor as a Valkyrie I will not flee or deceive you. Or do I need to remind you that it's you two who came asking for me to join, and not the other way around!"

"You mentioned to Belldandy you could not trust another Valkyrie. What did you mean by this?" Lind asked as she sat down across from Rist.

"I can't prove it yet but I have my suspicions that there are two, possibly more factions within the silver wings. We have always been alienated from the other citizens of heaven. Given our occupation and the violent nature it involves many gods and goddesses alike think we are no better than demons, that the silver wings would be eliminated by heaven itself eventually because of these thoughts. And so to counter this many may be planning a preemptive strike. I believe Celveria caught wind of this plan and she was eliminated by her own sisters because of this," Rist explained.

"And you think I was among the faction that believed the silver wings that are planning to incite a rebellion." Lind said. Wondering to herself if this is true how high up the chain of command did this faction go exactly if this story was true.

"Finally you're beginning to understand, though that's not saying much considering I have given you the answer now is it?" Rist mocked.

Lind sighed. "Don't make us regret this."

"I promised on my honor I'd not run." Rist said while nodding. Keiichi looked concerned but decided to trust Lind on this. Knowing she understood the mind of another silver wing better than anyone else around. Once again Lind spoke in a manner Keiichi could not understand. When she was done the cube faded away.

Rist nodded approvingly as Keiichi and Lind began to leave the room. "My weapon," Rist asked. Lind turned around and held her hands out as if something was in her hands. With a soft sound and matching glow a spear appeared within her hands. Lind twirled it around herself a few times. She tested the weapon herself before setting the blunt end down on the ground; the weapon was nearly as tall as Lind. "Good balance, finely crafted and easy on the eyes. This is a fine weapon," Lind mentioned then tossed it to Rist.

Keiichi watched her catch the weapon with bated breath, wondering if she was going to attack now. "I agree, it is a fine weapon. It was crafted by Celveria's smiths and given to me as a gift when I joined the silver wings." While talking it disappeared in the same manner Lind made it appear. Keiichi sighed in relief seeing it disappear. "Let's be going, I am tired of this forsaken room." Rist said as she walked past Lind and purposely bumped into Keiichi, nearly knocking him down.

Lind watched Rist leave while making sure Keiichi was alright then followed her newest companion out of the apartment.

Xxxxx

Urd stood in a hallway looking completely bored, just trimming her nails a tad while occasionally eyeing the door in front of her. She continued to wait until the doors opened. Ere, Ex, and Chrono all walked out looking exhausted. Behind them was Peorth. "Nice job today ladies, we got farther than I had hoped." The three grumbled something while walking away.

"You sure seem to keep them busy," Urd noted as Peorth stopped in front of her.

Peorth smiled at Urd. "Not me this time, Lind. Or more specifically her stubbornness to fulfill that unusual wish Morisato Keiichi asked of her. We've begun the procedures to have her powers limited. This is proving difficult as silver wings are defaulted to not have their abilities restricted in any form from their license. We've been spending all this time trying to find some way around this to no avail. This being an unprecedented situation is only adding to our troubles." Peorth sighed. "You didn't come to hear my woes, so what can I do for you?"

"Seems were in the same boat then. I came to you to help me out about a request from Belldandy." This put Peorth's mood off a bit, being Belldandy's rival in her own mind. "Bell has found herself wrapped up in a serious matter involving the same silver wing and considering you have worked with her in the past I thought you could help me."

"It's true Lind and I have worked together on assignments involving commands from Yggdrasil but she is a quiet type. I don't even know if she considers me a friend. Still I'll do what I can, what do you need?" Peorth asked as she began to walk down the hall, Urd walking beside her.

"I need you to look into the silver wings." Urd explained.

"That's not a small order. You know how they are, they keep to themselves mostly. Acting with others outside their office only when forced to, still it sounds it could be interesting; so which one should I be focusing on?" Peorth wondered as they stopped at a smaller looking room. Entering inside were a variety of flowers growing from what seemed like the walls and pots nearby, roses being the most common. Peorth sat down and pointed out a chair for Urd.

"I want you to look into the organization as a whole, what have they been up too lately." Urd said.

"Well… I have a few in there that owe me a favor or two. I suppose I could pay them a visit but you'll owe me big for this you know." Peorth smiled.

Urd nodded. "I figured as much, that's fine I suppose. It might be a while until you can collect though. I am worried for Belldandy in all this."

"Does Skuld know about any of this? She will worry also." Peorth asked.

"Skuld knows what she needs to, she is safe here," Urd replied in a harsh manner, as if scolding herself for hiding things from her little sister. "We should get back on topic." Urd stood up and moved to the door. "I'll be in my usual haunts; it should be simple finding me when you're done."

"I can't guarantee anything," Peorth said loud enough for Urd to hear from the door way as she was leaving.

"Just do what you can. I'll find a way to manage with that." Urd replied from outside the room. Peorth sighed then left herself and walked out toward the open skies. She looked around for the floating platform that housed the structure the Valkyries held for their office, flying off toward it.

Xxxxx

"I'm home!" Keiichi called out as he stepped into the temple from the front door. Megumi ran out from the tea room and grabbed Keiichi into a playful headlock, bringing his head down to her level. "Kei-chan. You never mentioned you were living with so many pretty looking girls. I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed of you right now. You just better not try anything scandalous with all of them," she whispered as she noticed Lind and Rist. She let go of Keiichi go and turned to them. "Welcome back Lind, I was getting worried, you took so long to pick up Keiichi."

"His flight was delayed; we also took a detour to pick up Rist along the way." Lind said motioning towards the new member of the crew.

"It's nice to meet you," Rist said while smiling though tried too hard to sound warm in her voice and made her pitch awkward.

Megumi though seemed taken back. "Another girl, I should have known. It's a good thing Keima is not here to witness this. He would be glued to the ceiling." Rist looked defiantly at Megumi, clearly insulted by the less than welcoming introduction.

Keiichi rolled his eyes. "_She's probably right though._" He thought in embarrassment. Lind shared a small chuckle reading Megumi and Keiichi's thoughts. Rist and Belldandy looked on confused.

"Perhaps we can continue this somewhere more comfortable?" Rist asked blatantly, annoyed she being the only one still outside the temple doors.

"Ah, sorry," Megumi said while scratching the back of her head, not unlike how Keiichi does.

The group all went into the tea room and formed a circle around the table while Belldandy poured tea for everyone. Afterwards joining in herself. Keiichi sipped some of his tea then looked to Megumi who drank all of her tea in a single shot. The others noticed one by one as she set down her drink. "That was refreshing," She announced to the group as she set her cup down roughly. She looked at the expressions the others were giving.

Rist was the first to comment. "Usually one prefers to savior the taste with small sips."

Megumi smiled and began pouring herself a second cup. "What and let all this tea go to waste, I think not."

Keiichi just chuckled. "_She hasn't changed much._" He thought remembering when the last time they lived together. "Lind told me you planned to enroll in college? Have you gotten a place to stay?"

Megumi rooted through her pockets then produced a paper and slid it to Keiichi. On it was the specifics and price range for an apartment. Lind peeked over at the paper and flashbacked to when Keiichi was in a similar situation. "We have ventured this road, you won't find what you're seeking," Lind said in between sips.

"Maybe I can increase the price a little bit if I can score a few temp jobs. I know, we can look together Keiichi! You can show me the spots you had not visited yet. Come on let's get started." Megumi gave Lind thumbs up and began marching out the door, trying to drag Keiichi away with her. And she would have succeeded if not for Lind grabbing a hold of the collar of his jacket. This put Megumi into a losing battle.

"It's late, perhaps tomorrow when everyone is rested we can all search together?" Belldandy added. Lind noticed the time and nodded, still holding onto Keiichi's jacket.

Megumi blinked and ceased her efforts to drag her brother away she also looked at the time. "Well I suppose your right." Megumi yawned and stretched her arms up above her. Suddenly being let go caused Keiichi to fall to the floor. Keiichi looked to Lind for sympathy, she simply closed her eyes and went back to her tea undisturbed. "So where should I be staying now that Kei-chan is back?"

"And I as well." Rist added from the corner of the room, she said while joining the others by standing besides the table.

Keiichi took a moment to think about it. "Well Megumi can stay with Belldandy. If that's okay with you Belldandy." The siblings both smiled when she agreed. "And Rist and Lind can share rooms."

Rist looked over to Lind who turned a single eye at her in response. "Oh joy," Rist said coldly.

Megumi sat beside Keiichi and leaned over toward him. "Sure you don't want to room up with Lind," Megumi asked. Her voice pitched in a suggestive manner while looking at the two sitting beside each other.

Surprised, Keiichi spat out his tea and onto Rist. She looked both disgusted and angry at Keiichi at the same time as she brushed at her clothing. Keiichi was too distracted to notice this though. "T-that's not exactly appropriate you know!" He muttered while feeling flustered.

Lind seemed confused by this. "Am I that distressing to be near?" She asked Keiichi intently.

Keiichi leaned back from Lind noticing the usually high focus she had on her face. To him it looked as if she were about to attack. "W-well I mean, guys and girls don't usually because of things…" Keiichi trailed off.

Megumi watched and began to smile at the scene unfolding.

"I thought individuals with interest in each other tend to room together?" Lind asked, somehow missing what he was getting at. She had tried to read his thoughts but they were currently a mess, to many random thoughts and ideas made it hard for her to make any sense of it all.

"Ehhh!" Keiichi turned red even more, wondering if Lind could really be this naive about relationships. "It's well, I don't want to go to fast, things could become…" Keiichi trailed off in his words again, and began muttering things to himself incoherently.

Megumi tried her best to suppress her laughter while rolling around on the ground. Even Rist gave an amused chuckle. Someone had skipped to explain to Lind about the bird and the bees or was blind when it came to personal relationships and how they are generally gone about.

"What are you so worried about then?" Lind asked, wondering why he was suddenly so shy.

"Well, you know, just… things," Keiichi felt like he was about to get a nosebleed with the thoughts he was having, trying to turn his ideas elsewhere if Lind decided to sneak peek into his thoughts. "Never mind, it's nothing." Keiichi said, just wanting to end the conversation.

"It's settled then, I'll stay with Keiichi." Lind said, while calmly finishing her tea. In the background Megumi burst out laughing, no longer able to hold it in. Keiichi grumbled knowing full well his sister had put him in this position on purpose. Belldandy just gave her usual smile when unsure about things.

Rist just face palmed and sighed. "_I have been eternally disgraced, to have been captured by these goofballs… I'll never live this dishonor down."_

"I'll room up with Rist then." Belldandy smiled toward Rist. From afar Lind watched carefully at Rist's expression about this. She so far seemed to be co-operative.

"Megumi gets her own room then." Lind said, and from the back they heard her shout in triumph. "Tomorrow we will begin our mission to find an apartment for her."

Everyone nodded and began to file out heading to their respective rooms.

Xxxxx

Lind cleared out her room and moved her possessions to Keiichi's room who was sitting there. He was so nervous he could feel a cold sweat forming. "Are you sure this is really a good idea? I mean well, people will talk."

Lind set her bed roll down and sat down on top of it. "I understand your concerns, don't worry I don't plan to take advantage of this in, adult manners, as you seemed to think." This relieved Keiichi a lot, the nervousness in his face faded. "I still do not fully trust Rist. I do not think she will betray her word; however Belldandy and I agreed she should still be monitored just in case. If she flees, we will be ready to pursue, if she attacks I will be here to defend you, also to that end while you were away and Megumi was occupied we set up a variety of barriers to keep outsiders out. I won't let heaven's affairs harm you a second time. Belldandy and I had planned to release to her before I even came to visit you this morning if things with her went well enough. If she runs or stays true to her word it's a gain for us either way."

Keiichi nodded. "So what do you think about Celveria? Think she really set herself up to fall into that trap on purpose?"

Lind thought about it. "It's hard to say. If she did, then she would have to separate her powers as a goddess as well as her memories, neither of which an easy task. Afterward she would have to become dormant, in a deep sleep like state. If she did fake her death then the thing we buried was nothing but a hollow shell that looked like her. It's tough to create one that is convincing, but not impossible." Lind held out the blue memory fragments in front of herself. "It seems possible these could be her memories. But even if they are we still have no way of knowing where her powers are being held or where she is resting and no clues of where to look for either. For now let's just let's just focus on Rist. She's our only lead for either."

Keiichi nodded. "It's going to be a long day, might as well get some rest." He stretched out on his bed. Lind evened hers out and mimicked him. Keiichi rolled over, turning his back to Lind to hide he was still somewhat nervous of sharing a room from him. He sighed, wondering how long in the night it would take for fatigue to overpower his nervousness from sharing the room with her.

Xxxxx

The man read over the requirements for an apartment. When he set it down, Megumi was leaning over his table while staring intently. Belldandy was reading the notices on the wall. Lind and Rist gathered together in a corner each looking bored in their own way. "Sorry, these amounts are just not enough." The agent said to Megumi. Keiichi groaned and by the look of his eyes, had been too nervous to sleep much the previous night. Belldandy gripped her shirt tightly, wanting to try to help Keiichi out but lost her nerve when Lind shifted around, leaving Belldandy to look on nervously at Keiichi.

Rist noticed Belldandy's desire and her inability to approach Keiichi. "_It seems Lind isn't the only one who's taken an interest in him. Lind has competition after all._" She thought to herself as Belldandy stood there still very tense.

"Come on everyone, to the next place." Megumi said while talking the paper away from the real estate agent. Everyone minus Belldandy sighed and hung their heads in defeat.

One by one they all filed out of the building. They began walking down the sidewalk to the next agency renting out places. "This is a waste of time, just let her stay at the temple with the rest of you lot. It's not like we can't just continue to share rooms." Rist suggested and got glared at silently by Lind and Keiichi.

Rist looked at Lind curiously than to Megumi. "I'll debrief you about it later." Lind mentioned over her shoulder.

Megumi turned around and began walking backwards. "You say something Lind?"

Lind was startled to attention. "No, nothing at all." She said unusually quickly. Megumi made a sour face, deciding to let it go for now while.

Rist watched the deception curiously while thinking to herself. "_Maybe she can play the misinformation game, to a limited extent that is._"

Rist and Lind both looked to Belldandy as if they were speaking through whispers in the air to one another. Belldandy nodded to the warriors and spoke up. "Keiichi, go on with Megumi, I will catch up momentarily." He looked puzzled but understood when Lind gave him just the slightest of nods. The two had gotten use to hiding their powers away from prying eyes and ears over the few months the goddesses had spent on earth.

Belldandy turned away from the group at the first intersection in the sidewalk she came across. The rest of the group proceeded onwards normally.

Shortly after Belldandy broke off from the group an unusual looking dog arrived, running toward the group. Stopping before them and growling toward the group. Keiichi backed up defensively while Lind and Rist observed it curiously. Than just as suddenly as it had appeared it turned and jumped at Megumi. It snatched the rolled up sheets of paper that had agencies addresses on it. The dog held with its teeth and ran down the street. The group chased after the dog as it ran with an unusually keen sense of direction.

From above Belldandy jumped from roof to roof, invisible to all those around including Keiichi, watching as the group gave chase. They dog was able to pull ahead eventually to the point they thought they'd lost the dog. Megumi led the group around a corner where she thought it had gone. They found the dog to be nowhere to be found. In its place was Belldandy picking up the papers and handed it to Megumi while smiling brightly, behind her was a recently opened real estate agency.

"Well since we're here, we might as well go inside." Megumi said in between breaths. Lind and Belldandy both nodded and followed Megumi.

Once inside Megumi immediately went to work to questioning the man behind the desk. "I noticed you have no advertisements posted. It's a miracle we were able to find you." Keiichi rolled his eyes at that, staring at three miracles in the group Megumi had no idea about. Lind noticed him staring and as usual gave him his usual wakeup call with a smack to the back of the head.

The man behind the desk did his best with the forthright comments from Megumi. He smiled uncomfortably while talking. "We're a small company still; I run the business and also interact with customers. Looking over your amount offered, we do have one however it's haunted."

Megumi laughed at this. "Haunted? As if there is such a thing as a haunted house." Keiichi rubbed the back of his head. Not long ago he'd of said the same.

The salesman looked concerned more than anything. He reached into his desk and presented a brown paper bag that on the front had the keys to the apartment. On the front was the address to the apartment. "It would be better explained if you see for yourself. If you think can manage to live there I'll gladly rent it out to you seeing no one else will even go near it after first contact."

Xxxxx

Keiichi and the group stood in front of a four year old yellow apartment. "This is so exciting I can hardly wait. I was beginning to think we might not find a place." Megumi said as she began to unlock the front door.

As the lock clicked open Belldandy stiffened up. She looked to Lind and Rist who both nodded. "Took you long enough to notice it." Rist said under her breath.

"Hurry up everyone!" Megumi shouted from within the apartment. Megumi went from room to room, noting how it matched all her requirements, finishing in the empty main room which earned her an odd stare from her brother. "I've decided! I'm going to get this place."

Keiichi looked at a sheet of paper in his hand. "For 20,000 yen for this is cheap."

Belldandy and Lind tuned out Keiichi and Megumi as they talked about the apartment until Megumi announced she was going to sign the contract. When they heard her leave both Rist and Lind magically changed into their Valkyrie uniforms so as not to get caught unprepared. Belldandy walked off on her own into another room. "Keiichi, this room; isn't it cold for a southeast room?"

Keiichi entered the room beside Belldandy and looked around it, trying to locate something he thought might be the cause. "Now that you mention it, it does seem to have a draft."

"There's no mistake, there's definitely something here." Belldandy said.

Rist and Lind remained in the neighboring room and looked toward Belldandy and Keiichi. A sharp pinging sound went through the apartment. On instinct and training Rist and Lind moved close to each other, their backs pressed against each other to prevent an ambush from behind either of them. "T-That sound just now…" Keiichi mentioned nervously. "What was that?"

Belldandy went into the kitchen with Keiichi following. "I know your there. Come out!" Belldandy commanded at the empty kitchen she was now standing in.

The lights in the room began to flicker on and off without any human aid. "_Get out of here!_" A voice echoed throughout the house and sounded as if it was coming from the walls themselves. The cabinet doors beneath the sink began to open and shut wildly. Keiichi watched them slam shut over the corner of his shoulder. "_Get out of my place!_" The voice ordered again. The lights continued blinking repeatedly. "_Get out of here!_"

Keiichi shouted and ran back into the other room away from the voice. "Keiichi! Stop!" Belldandy cried out to him. She turned back to the room "Where are you? Why are you doing this?"

Lind turned her head to see Keiichi enter her view of vision from the kitchen and into another room, tripping in the center of it, landing on his face. The lights now remained off and the sink cabinets ceased banging, as if whatever was responsible had just left them. "L-Lind?" Keiichi called out as he stood back up.

"Stay where you are." Lind commanded as she remained completely still, her eyes slowly scanning the room, wondering where an attack would come from if there was one. Rist looked over her shoulder briefly to note Keiichi's position.

Everyone looked around the room they were in. Rist looked back toward Keiichi again and noticed the doors to his room slowly closing. "Morisato!" She shouted and broke her formation with Lind to get to Keiichi. When she shouted the doors slammed shut isolating Keiichi from the three goddesses. Rist ran to the door Keiichi was behind and tried to open it to no avail. An unseen force was holding the door shut. Lind then tried a more forceful approach of attacking the doors which proved equally unsuccessful.

From the other side Keiichi also tried to open the doors. "Lind! The doors are locked. I can't get them open! Why won't they budge?"

Keiichi heard the pinging sound again, this time louder and seeming to originate from the room he was in and behind him. "_Fools that don't obey my orders…_" The voice trailed off. Keiichi turned to see a soft light behind him. He shouted when he saw a man floating in the air. He wore robes and what looked similar to a navy cloak over his shoulders. Keiichi was too nervous to notice the white hair or blue markings on his face.

"Keiichi!" Both Lind and Belldandy shouted when they heard his scream. Belldandy noticed the mirror hanging on the wall she was in and used it to teleport away. Lind however became furious at the sound of the scream and her eyes turned their golden color.

"Obediently take god's punishment." The floating figure said to Keiichi and the room glowed even more brightly, hinting a spell was about to be cast from this man. Keiichi sat shivering in fear against the doors leading toward Lind. Lightning began to crackle around the figure. Keiichi screamed as he saw the electricity flying toward him.

"Shield!" Belldandy shouted as she appeared flying through a mirror and landed beside Keiichi, protecting him from the attack.

"What!" The figure leaned back, not expecting his spell to be repelled. When he looked back, Belldandy was moving Keiichi into the corner and stood in front of him. The doors Keiichi was beside were shattered as an enraged Lind stood in the doorway, Rist just behind her. Both had their weapons at a ready position.

"You're a third class land sprit, aren't you?" Belldandy asked. "Why are you doing this?" She asked next before even getting an answer to her first question.

"Oh, I never thought there was someone who knew me in this dimension." The spirit said, his curiosity mixed with surprise.

"From what I see, you seemed to have weakened quite a bit. I don't want to fight you. Go back to your land quietly."

The spirit now seemed enraged. "I can't do that!" A strong burst from his aura in Belldandy's direction forced her into a defensive stance.

"You rented it, too. You won't survive!" The spirit shouted and as he was about to strike again he found himself pinned to the wall behind him. The cloth on his left sleeve by a spear and the right by Lind's poleax.

"For a third class you have some courage I'll admit that, to attack a mortal who is under the protection of not one, but two Valkyries." Rist said smugly. Lind looked at Rist, surprised by her comment. The spirit looked at the two and now realized in his anger had completely forgotten all about those two. He finally has noticed the clothing they were wearing and was all the proof he needed. Keiichi just sat in the corner still not wanting to move.

The spirit bowed his head. "I-I'm sorry."

Lind and Rist relaxed their posture. "Will you behave?" Rist asked as she grabbed her spear. When he nodded she pulled it out of the wall and Lind did the same with her weapon.

"We will listen to your story." Belldandy said as everyone sat down beside the spirit on the floor.

"Consider yourself lucky this guy didn't try to possess you. I would not have bothered to get him out." Rist said while looking at Keiichi who tensed again thinking about that.

"What is he?" Keiichi asked, looking for anyone to answer.

"He is a third class land spirit, and he's supposed to manage the land, but…" Belldandy was interrupted by the spirit.

"The truth is they put a stake through the earth-power vein and I lost a majority of my powers." He explained.

"This is your reasoning for scaring people." Lind stated. "You wanted this apartment vacant. You were hoping they would demolish this place."

"Yes." The spirit said sounding ashamed.

"What's an earth-power vein?" Keiichi asked.

"Nothing that concerns you." Rist blurted out, getting her an evil stare from Lind.

"It's a path the land spirit takes, and it's his source of energy." Belldandy explained.

"Like how an angel is a goddess's source of energy?" Keiichi asked Lind who nodded then looked away. Rist found this sudden withdrawal curious but said nothing for now.

"If the vein is restored, will you go back to managing the land?" Belldandy asked the spirit.

"I swear it on my name." The spirit said. Rist couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. Not long ago she was an enemy of the group as well like the spirit before her.

Belldandy stood up and an orb formed in front of her. "I'll borrow a bit of the veins energy." Belldandy began to chant incoherently to Keiichi but Rist and Lind seemed able to follow the words easily. The spirit and Keiichi just sat beside each other and watched until Belldandy finished.

"I thank you. If you have any problems please call me anytime." The spirit said.

"We have a friend who will be staying here, please watch over her for us." Belldandy asked.

"Very well." The spirit agreed.

"You're free to go." Lind said to the spirit who transformed into a mouse and ran off somewhere.

xxxxx

Rist and Belldandy had just finished repairing the damages to the place as Megumi came back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." She called out while shutting the door. She then sat down with the rest of the group.

"Did you finalize the contract?" Keiichi asked.

"Of course." Megumi said happily while giving thumbs up to Keiichi. "See." She then showed them all the keys to the entire place.

"Now you can go to the university without worries." Belldandy said.

"Yeah! The university is near here also. Boy I can't wait until spring."

"Your university is near here?" Keiichi asked Megumi. "Oh yeah, which are you attending?"

"Nekomi Institute of Technology." Megumi said simply.

Keiichi felt as if he'd choke right their hearing that. "What?"

"Yep, next spring I'll be your junior." Megumi said.

"That can't be." Keiichi said sounding almost pleadingly to anyone who'd listen to change it.

"Then we can all be together at school also." Belldandy said happily while Keiichi lowered his head in frustration.

"That means you'll have to take care of me there. Se-n-pa-i!" Megumi said swaying her finger with each syllable, followed at the end by a wink. The girls minus Rist laughed at Keiichi.

"How does it always turn out this way?" Keiichi cried out.

Xxxxx

Peorth entered an empty marble room and waited a few moments later Urd entered behind her. "So, what did you find out?" Urd asked while approaching Peorth.

Peorth sighed. "Not much I'm afraid. Only that they have begun to inspect the homes of former and or fallen Valkyrie members."

"Are they searching for something in particular?" Urd said.

"It would seem so but I couldn't gather anything else without being noticed or gathering unwanted attention to myself." Peorth said.

"Well it's a start, thanks for the information." Urd began to leave when Peorth grabbed her wrist.

"I don't need to remind you that whatever it is, it will most likely be dangerous. Are you sure you want to drag your sisters further into this?" Peorth asked sounding very worried.

"Belldandy is already involved and Skuld is still lacking the guile to take any part of this so she should be safe for the time being. If Belldandy is in trouble I intend to help her as best I can." Urd replied. "Besides I know I can count on you to watch over her if needed.

"So what are you going to do now?" Peorth asked.

"Give her what I found, then stick around and see how things play out." Urd mentioned. "You take care of yourself also. Belldandy and I might need your aid again soon."

"As if I'd ever allow myself to lose to my rival on a technicality," Peorth replied as she left the room. Once she had left Urd used the computer in the room as a medium to teleport away.

Xxxxx

Keiichi and the group began their walk back toward the temple. Belldandy and Keiichi hung back in the group and talked to one another. This left Rist and Lind together in the front.

"That doesn't bother you?" Rist asked while nodding behind her as Belldandy laughed to something Keiichi said.

Lind shook her head. "You make it seem like I own Keiichi or something. I'm more surprised by you back there against the land spirit." Rist looked on oddly at Lind. "I wasn't expecting you to defend Keiichi, being a mortal as you said before."

Rist merely shrugged. "Don't mistake me; I still believe he and his sister alike are beneath us, but allowing him to be injured or worse, it would have left a sour taste in my mouth. There's nothing more to it beyond that."

"Well then, I won't thank you." Lind said as the group reached the front door of the temple. Rist nodded and looked away, uninterested in talking about it anymore.

"Finally were home and get to relax," Keiichi said while stretching his arms and walking toward his room. He opened the door to his room and stared into the room looking dumbfounded. He pointed into the room and began to stutter incoherently.

"Keiichi?" Lind asked. Both Lind and Belldandy looked into the room. "nee-san?" Belldandy scolded. In the room was Urd stretched out on a bedroll and dressed in enticing clothing.

"Welcome home everyone!" Urd cheered in a slightly sultry nature while offering them all an alcoholic beverage.

Rist peeked into the room between Lind and Keiichi and turned her head to hide a blush. "What a shameful woman." Rist then left for her own room in a hurry.

Urd just smiled and took a gulp of whatever was in the bottle she was holding.

Xxxxx

* * *

My Email got into some technical issues and part of the notices I got for followings on my story were lost and I apologize for that. To be fair I decided not to list names to spare the feelings of those who's names were lost cause my mailbox failed. You all know who you are and I love you out there for following me.


	9. Ah! What creates a family!

Author Notes:

I wanted the reader's opinion about an idea Another Duck brought up to me. Previously I've tried to keep my chapters at a minimum of 8000 words as a sort of theme to my chapters. I would like everyone's ideas on shorter chapters so I could post more frequently. Please cast your opinions either in a private message or in your reviews. Thank you and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Xxxxx

Lind stood at the top of the hill on the side of the road, the temple walls beside her. She stood in wait for Keiichi as he ran toward her. He moved at a slower than her but with a steady pace.

Lind looked approvingly. "Not bad Keiichi-kun. This marks the first time you completed the run without a rest."

Keiichi leaned over to catch his breath, too tired to respond at the moment. Lind patted him on the back with too much enthusiasm, knocking him to the sidewalk face first. "Thanks…" he groans while laying there and looking up at her.

"Your stamina is well enough for you to begin basic hand to hand training. You should enjoy this much more." Lind said hints of pride in her voice while Keiichi stood back up and dusted himself off.

"Why do I get the feeling this is more for your enjoyment than mine." Keiichi said all the while looking skeptical.

"Perhaps a little." Lind quickly admitted.

Walking back toward their home, entering the temple courtyard they saw Belldandy. She was waiting patiently as Keiichi and Lind approached with a smile to greet them.

"Welcome home Keiichi, Lind. Breakfast has been prepared; the others are waiting for you in the kitchen.

"Thank you Belldandy." Keiichi greeted as he opened the door for the girls to enter, shutting it behind him.

Xxxxx

Keiichi entered to find Urd and Rist sitting at opposite ends of the table, each with their preferred beverage beside them. Rist childishly ignoring Urd hinting that a fight between the two had just took place moments ago.

"Stupid mortal, these two made me wait for you. So you just had to go take your sweet time getting back didn't you?" Rist snapped at Keiichi as he filed in behind the other two goddesses. She looked away and sipped tea to further show of contempt for being kept waiting.

"Don't act so spoiled. We got to spend quality time together." Urd said, her words slightly slurred confirmed any suspicions that she needed to put her bottle down soon.

"You trying to get me drunk is hardly what I'd call _quality time_." Rist responded and sighed. "Can't you all act remotely normal?"

"If this place is so uncomfortable for you I can always have you arrested and sealed away for your crimes when you attacked people with a Dreamweaver." Lind said while sitting down, Keiichi and Belldandy joining her on each side.

Rist gave a momentary saddened response, tea spilling from the cup in her hands. "Doing that would mean sacrificing one of the few leads you have to finding our mistress." Rist said while taking off the gloves of her Valkyrie uniform that were now stained by her tea. "No, you wouldn't report me. Not until I give you my information and you can confirm it anyhow."

Belldandy could sense the tension building between Lind and Rist. She got up and went around the kitchen to grab a pot and place it down on the center of the table every else was sitting at. "Angry voices are not a healthy way to begin a beautiful day." Lind and Rist looked away from each other, like feuding sisters scolded by their mother.

"Well since we're all here; let's hear what Urd learned for us." Keiichi said still feeling the unusual energy in the room the dispute moments ago caused.

Urd set her bottle down on the table, her mischievous, party hungry face turned serious. "After receiving Belldandy's call I followed up on her request. Being my amazing self I managed to discover that the silver wings are searching through the homes of fallen, retired or missing members of the Valhalla office." Urd looked up for a moment to take a breath and noticed Belldandy intently watching Keiichi eating the rice her sister cooked for the group. A small smile formed on the corner of her lips as devious ideas for the two of them ran through her mind.

"Going through homes isn't all that surprising. All the offices do that to make room for other gods and goddesses. I've even been ordered to clean out a few homes in the past once. Rist said.

Urd put her planning on hold when Rist finished. "I already considered that. When I went through Yggdrasil's records I found that the amount of available space is still well within acceptable margins."

You managed to get into Yggdrasil's database? I must say, I'm impressed." Rist said nodding approvingly. "So, how did you manage that?" Rist asked sounding eager to know how she was able to sneak into such a secured area.

"It's my job to maintain Yggdrasil's mainframe." Urd replied teasingly.

Rist looked at her with squinted, narrow eyes. "Suddenly, not so impressive…" Rist trailed off. Urd shrugged off the words by sticking her tongue out at Rist.

"Nee-san, if you're here then who's monitoring Yggdrasil?" Belldandy asked with considerable concern.

Urd waved her hands defensively. "Fear not, I had the kid take care of it." She said while pointing up.

Xxxxx

A small girl in matching red and white clothing sat in a floating stone chair that was in the center of an egg shaped room. Her fingers ran over a seemingly non-existent keyboard. Numerous error screens appeared around her while doing so. "Awww Geez…" The girl cried out while attempting to fix the errors, her efforts only rewarding her with even more. "STUPID URD!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, flailing her hands wildly over the keyboard. Doing so caused the entire room to fill with error messages.

Xxxxx

Keiichi chuckled nervously hearing Urd spin her explanation. "The fate of earth is in the hands of a little girl. That is not very comforting to know."

"Know your place in the scheme of things!" Rist said, nearly climbing up over the table to get to Keiichi. "We know what's best for you lowly mortals."

Keiichi stood up furiously to confront Rist, or was going to until Lind grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down in his seat. "Let's get back on topic." Lind said to the group with a straight face. Urd watched as Belldandy tried to calm him down in her own way, offering him some tea with a smile.

"You mentioned before you had dreams informing you of who to send the Dreamweaver after. What can you tell us about these dreams?" Belldandy asked while setting down the tea pot.

Rist took a moment to recall her dreams. "There isn't much you don't know already. The times varied, however a majority of them awoke me at 2:37 A.M. earth realm time."

"Is that time import to you in any way?" Urd asked, looking at both Rist and Lind.

Rist shook her head while thinking. "It can't be a coincidence…" Lind whispered to herself.

"You know what the time means?" Keiichi asked Lind.

"No… I have no recollection of that time period. However, at roughly the same time I had dreams also." Lind said.

"Perhaps then you two weren't the only two to get the dreams, there could be others who are also on our side on this?" Belldandy asked hopefully.

"It's possible, but we have no way of knowing who is. Besides we can't exactly go asking them for obvious reasons." Rist sighed, and then looked at Lind. "What were your dreams? Perhaps an answer lies there.

Lind looked unusually sad as she stared down at the table. "My dreams, they were memories of my time when I served under Celveria." Everyone in the room suddenly felt a sad chill go through them as Lind took a moment in respect with the others in the room before continuing. "When I had the dreams, I passed them off as nothing more than a form survivor's guilt."

"You're… guilty to have survived?" Keiichi asked softly, not understanding how this could be. To him surviving a war was a fortunate thing.

Belldandy turned to Keiichi. "Lind is a goddess but she is also a warrior. And like any warrior they sometimes blame themselves for surviving something very traumatizing such as war while others they shared close bonds with had not. We're not all that different from humans."

"I see..." Keiichi said, at a loss for words. She turned and nodded but otherwise said nothing. Belldandy watched and tried to smile at the moment but found herself unable to do so.

Urd coughed to get everyone's attention back to herself. "Dreams aside, we can say for certain the silver wings are looking for something, the question is what?"

"The homes being cleared out are likely a distraction. I believe its Celveria's mansion they are really interested in. Was it one of the homes to be inspected?" Lind asked Urd.

"That's right." She replied.

"This all started with Celveria. I want to inspect her home as well." Lind said.

Rist looked up curiously. "Just what do you hope to find their?" Rist asked

"We'll know when we find it." Lind said causing Rist to groan.

"As fun as this sounds, the rouge element within the silver wings currently are not aware of our part in all this. All they know for certain is that a Valkyrie tried to seal Nifelhem. As ill advised as that is, it's hardly treasonous. If this rough group notices us not only might we be labeled traitors they may try to eliminate us to cover up their tracks." Urd said seriously, to explain the risks of this idea.

"So we basically cannot be discovered entering her home by anyone from heaven." Keiichi clarified.

"That's correct; we need to be well prepared before attempting this. We will likely only get one shot at this; there will not be any room for error. We need to go in knowing as much as we can about Celveria when we go to her mansion. I know of a man from another realm who might fit that role. Secondly a layout of the interior to Celveria's mansion will be required. We cannot waste time being in places we don't need to be. And lastly we will need some kind of distraction. Something big enough to divert the attention of all the silver wings. The time that they are looking away from us and occupied with the distraction will be our window of opportunity to search the mansion, then get out undetected." Lind said.

"Leave the layout of her mansion to me. I know it like the back of my hand. I can draw out maps for everyone to study in case we get separated. And guide you through the mansion during the actual operation if we manage to stay together." Rist said. The group, minus Lind looked at her. "Why are you all surprised? Before becoming a Valkyrie I was a maid for Celveria." She said defensively.

"What about this other man?" Urd asked. "The one who you claim to have known Celveria better that you two?"

"In my time serving under Celveria she spoke of him on a few separate occasions. I asked her one day how she plans a battle she told me it wasn't her doing. She mentioned she would visit him before a battle for strategic support. She would go to this man and he formed the battle plans for our squad in battles she knew was approaching. She never said much about him except that he was unrealistically intelligent and perceptive even by heaven's standards. She even considered it possible able for him to outthink the Yggdrasil mainframe one day if he continued to sharpen his skills. That's all she said to describe him to me. I don't know if the last part was Celveria overestimating his abilities but he sounds like he could prove useful on something like this."

"But where can we find this man?" Keiichi asked. "She didn't mention a whole lot on the way of finding him."

"Celveria let slip the name of the realm he lives on, that's a good enough of a lead to start a search." Lind said.

"Another realm huh? Wonder what it's like." Keiichi said in a daydream. He imagining himself in a variety of societies established on earth. Lind slapped him over the head when she noticed this daydreaming.

"The realm is rather similar to this one actually. From a technological stand point however they are roughly 125 years ahead of your people's current ability. "Lind explained.

"That just leaves the distraction part of this mission. It cannot be anyone here. If we attack anything in heaven it will just as bad as if the rouge silver wings found out we were on to them." Rist said.

Urd sighed. "Leave that part to me. I know a few who would likely be willing to play the decoys, for the right price." Everyone except Rist had a fair idea what she was planning and the looks on their faces showed that they did not like the idea.

"Can we go after the midterms? Bell, Lind and I have been studying for that exam." Keiichi asked.

"Hah! As if we need to study for some idiotic mortal exams. Try learning to move something without actually touching it. That's a test." Rist said to Keiichi, looking appalled he had the nerve to imply goddesses need to study for a human test.

Keiichi rubbed the back of his head, trying not to take her outburst personally. Belldandy was not as understanding, looking as upset as Belldandy was able to look that is. "Keiichi has his good points; do not look down on him." Belldandy scolded.

Both Rist and Lind eyed Belldandy in different, yet equally unusual manners. Urd smiled as she witnessed Belldandy's defiant looking expression.

Keiichi sighed as Lind looked up at the clock. "We need to be going; remaining will make us late for class today.

"EHHH!" Keiichi looked up at the clock and noted they had fifteen minutes to get to class. Keiichi bolted out of the kitchen, Lind following right behind, making a quick set of detours to grab both their helmets.

"Everything is so much less stressful without the mortal around." Rist sang happily. Belldandy began to collect the empty tea cups as Rist exited the kitchen. The feint sound of her summoning her weapon echoed down the hallway. Placing the last cup in the sink Belldandy was on her way to catch up to Keiichi and Lind when Urd blocked the doorway. "That Keiichi is rather interesting, wouldn't you say?" Belldandy listened. Not sure if she liked where this chat was going. Looking distraught as she noticed from the window, Keiichi waiting for her standing beside the motorcycle."Mhmm… As I thought. You do like him. Leave it to me!" Urd said while raising a fist in her excitement. Unaware she moved to the side some, letting Belldandy go by her. "I'll have him groveling before you! I'll make him fulfill your every desire!" Urd looked back to where Belldandy was standing, the space her sister had been inhabiting now empty. Looking out the window she could see Belldandy getting into the side car while Lind got on the seat behind Keiichi and the three drove off. Urd sighed to herself, being the only one left in the kitchen. "No one appreciates mischievous art anymore. But no matter, she will thank me for this in the end."

Xxxxx

Keiichi drove up to the university, waiting at the campus gates were Tamiya and Otaki. The two blocked the road when they saw Keiichi. "Morisato! You bastard!" Keiichi pulled over and the three got out. "You've been playing hooky or something?" Tamiya shouted.

Keiichi looked on puzzled at the seniors. "The race Keiichi." Lind clarified.

"The race is in three days and we need to get working on a car for our club if we're going to win against Aoshima and the misfits in his fake motor club! Otaki shouted afterward.

Keiichi felt like he might be blown backward by the intensity of their voices. Before he could even agree to anything the seniors were dragging him off toward the clubhouse. Lind and Belldandy followed as they watched Keiichi sigh as he was hauled off.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us if we're going to be ready for the races." Otaki said.

The majority of the day was spent with Keiichi, the seniors along with the two goddesses salvaging what they could at various junkyards, each contributing to the search in their own way. Belldandy used the spirits to find the needed parts. Next Lind acted as the motor clubs crane; the seniors marveling, as she lifted an engine without any aid. With the parts needed they returned to the club. Lind watched as Keiichi and the seniors put the machine together while Sora took care of the financial records and Belldandy walked about offering drinks and small snacks to everyone. As the sun set the group just finished tightening the last couple bolts. Saying their goodbyes everyone began to leave as Keiichi parked the newly built three wheeled vehicle. As he got out of the car he noticed Lind was waiting for him.

"Are you prepared to go home?" Lind asked him.

"Yeah." He said while nodding. Lind began to walk out. "Say Lind, why did you agree to this race? We're clearly at a disadvantage."

Lind turned to face him. "We can't pick our battles, if you're ever going to build up that courage of yours it will mean having to do things when the odds have been stacked against you. Trust in your comrades and fight together.

"This is not a battle though Lind." Keiichi said.

She walked up to him and held her hand in a fist. "Battles come in many forms." Lind's weapon appeared. "I fight my battles with this." Her weapon disappeared as she moved to the toolbox, tossing Keiichi a wrench. "And you fight your battles with that."

Keiichi thought to himself about what Lind told him while staring at the tool, not noticing the sound of the door closing as Lind left him in the clubhouse alone.

Xxxxx

Exhausted,Keiichi, Beldandy and Lind arrive back at the temple walking down hallway, the group seemingly ignorant to Urd as she watched them from the ceiling with some good old goddess magic. "I will take my leave. We all need to be at our best on test day and for the race coming up." Lind said.

"Lind, don't forget you still have some of your possessions in Keiichi's room." Belldandy reminded.

Lind nodded. "I'll stop by later to gather my things Keiichi-kun." She said after kissing his cheek. She then stepped into her room, closing the door behind her.

Urd takes a few notes of the scene playing out, Belldandy notices the sound and turns toward Urd is hiding, staring in that direction, unsure what to make of it herself. Keiichi watches Belldandy then looks to where her attention is focused. Not seeing anything he shrugs it off as some goddess related activity and left. When he is gone Urd drops down through the ceiling. "You're as sharp as ever Belldandy. I don't even think Lind noticed me hiding up there." Urd walked off toward the room she and Belldandy shared. The two had decided to share a room. This setup left Keiichi, Rist and Lind each with their own room for themselves. "Don't worry, I'm still gathering information for a sure fire plan to get you with that boy." Urd mentioned while turning the corner. Belldandy watched as her sister left the area also, leaving her feeling conflicted. Part of her wanting to stop her older sister and another side wondering if the plan might actually work.

Urd walked rather hastily toward her room. She slowed to a calm walk when she noticed Rist leaning against the wall adjacent to Urd's room. "Yo!" Rist greeted rather disrespectfully.

"Checking up on me are we?" Urd asked with a suggestive smile. "If you're interested I still have that gown and plenty of wine for the both of us."

Rist had to take several moments to recover from her shock, stuttering from the innuendo going through her mind. "D-don't joke! I'm not interested in that, especially with you of all people!"

Urd stopped beside Rist and wrapped an arm around Rist's neck, pulling the smaller Valkyrie to her side rather closely. Rist blushed a bit and looked away. "Your tongue lies but your face speaks truths." Urd teased while pressing her head against Rist's.

"I-It's not like that at all!" Rist looked down and found her staring directly at Urd's chest, brightening her blushing. Urd caught a glimpse of this and laughed. Rist used this distraction to get out of Urd's hold. Feeling humulated she puffed her cheeks to demonstrate the annoyance she was feeling. "I just came to warn you, whatever your scheming, Lind is onto it. If I could tell, then it's a safe bet she has her suspicions to match."

"Is that all?" Urd asked, adding emphasis to the last word.

"Of course, you shameful woman!" Rist verbally snapped.

"It's not good to lie to yourself." Urd continued on teasing. At this point the expression Rist had was quickly changing from annoyance to that of an angry look. To add more insult Urd patted Rist's head as if she were a kid. "Well when you grow up some and change your mind you know where to find me." Urd said, ending her teasing with this as she entered her room. From outside the room Urd, along with everyone else in the temple could hear her shouting about how shameless and lewd she was. This rant continued until a shout from Lind overpowered Rist's own shouts demanding peace and quiet.

Admitting her defeat to Lind in the shouting contest, Rist scampered off to her room. Closing the door behind her in a hurry once in, she leaned against the room in relief that she didn't have to receive any more punishments. She remembered staring at Urd earlier and looked down at her own chest, trying to make her feminine features seem more ample similar to that of Urd's by moving them around. When she realized she couldn't, she lowered her head in shame, for the third time in a matter of minutes she felt defeated. "It's just not fair." Rist whimpered tears ran down her face in a comical manner.

Xxxxx

Lind sat in her room, sitting peacefully as she ran a stone over the edge of her blade, sharpening it. The sound of the two objects was interrupted by a soft creek in the floor board outside of Lind's room. While still sharpening she focused in on that sound, drowning out the ambient sounds from the nocturnal creatures stirring outside. When she could no longer hear the steps of someone walking outside, Lind quietly left her room and walked down the hallway the sound of the footsteps trailed.

When she went outside she noticed Rist flying off into the night. The position of the moon told Lind it was well past midnight. Curious, Lind followed, careful to keep a distance between the two of them. Lind nearly had lost Rist when a glow from a spell caught her attention on the ground nearby. Lind touched down behind some bushes and watched as Rist stood in front of a grave. She could see Rist's, lips moving but was too far away to hear what she was saying. Afterwards Rist just stood there looking down before ceremoniously setting some flowers down onto the gravestone. "_She must have used her magic to make those._" Lind thought as she watched Rist fly off again after that. Lind came out of hiding to examine the grave.

"_Hideo Shiro" _Was engraved on the stone. As she read the memorial below a glimmer; from what looked like water, reflected the moon light that shined on the stone. Lind removed her gloves and touched the substance, rubbing it between her index finger and thumb. Then tasted it, noticing a salty flavor as it touched her tongue. Lind stood up turning toward the direction of the temple.

Xxxxx

The next morning Keiichi awoke to the sounds of the girls voices in the kitchen, entering he found everyone already enjoying breakfast. "Good morning Keiichi-san. We considered waking you but we decided you needed your rest for today's activities." Belldandy said as Keiichi sat down.

Keiichi nodded. "I see, good morning everyone." Keiichi greeted as Belldandy set down a plate for him.

"You should have a talk with your friends mortal!" Rist nearly shouted and Lind's smiled faded as soon as it had begun to form. "In the middle of the night some idiot called to cry about a rally race. If he does it again I'll give him something to really cry about." Rist said in her usual tone.

Keiichi rolled his eyes when she mentioned the rally race. "Sounds like something Tamiya or Otaki would do alright." Keiichi said with a heavy sigh as he tried to tune out Rist's continued ranting.

"I am still looking forward to putting that Aoshima in his place." Lind said, remembering what he did to Keiichi when Aoshima went overboard in his pursuit to learn about her powers as a goddess.

Rist's ranting ended abruptly when she heard Lind and she nearly knocked over her chair from jumping out of it in excitement. "I'm all for putting mortals in their place!"

"We should forgive him. Even if he did use bad methods he was just curious about us." Belldandy said to the group.

Lind stood up and put her dishes away in the sink. "Come on Keiichi-kun. Today we start your first basic hand to hand exercise." Lind said escorting him out to the courtyard. He made a save me look face as he passed the door frame.

"Who are we sending to find this man Lind mentioned yesterday? We never discussed that before." Rist asked. "At the very least two should go. That should be more than enough to search the realm in question, fortunately for us it's just one giant village that inhabits that realm so it simplifies things some."

"If Lind goes then so must Keiichi. The ultimate force may have calmed down but it will still not allow that much distance between those two." Urd said in between shots of saki.

"So he stays then, traveling to other realms isn't for mortals. It is reserved to us gods." Rist said. "I however am going for certain since it involves finding my mistress."

"If you go Lind will want to go also to keep an eye on you. She will have to bring Keiichi with her." Urd said.

"I would like to visit another realm with Keiichi-san." Belldandy added happily.

"If you go Belldandy, than I am also. I don't trust Rist as far as Keiichi could throw her. Urd said, By the look on her face both Rist and Belldandy knew Urd's decision was not up for debate.

"This is getting us nowhere." Rist complained.

"How about we all go, nothing is stopping us from that." Belldandy said.

"If we can't come to an agreement then that might be for the best. Those close to the mortal though will become suspicious of us leaving again suddenly a few days after he returns home assuming they aren't already. That human Megumi, for example, isn't as dense as she lets herself appear to be." Rist said.

"It can't be helped, let's give Sayoko a call so she knows what is going on. If we can't find him in a single night we can return home before trying again for a second attempt." Urd said, the look Rist was expressing showed she didn't like the idea but could think of no other objections. Looking to Belldandy she nodded, accepting the proposal. "I'll go inform Keiichi and Lind about our decision." Urd said as she got up and floated out of the room.

"I shall call Ms. Mishima to explain our decision. Please excuse me." Belldandy bowed her head to Rist before following her sister out of the room.

Xxxxx

Urd watched silently from the porch, watching Keiichi and Lind practice in the middle of the courtyard. She arrived just in time to see the two returning from their jog and to begin teaching Keiichi the basic form for a punch. She first demonstrating by punching the air in front of her as Keiichi watched. Keiichi watched and then tried the exact same way he had the first time Lind slapped him over the back of the head. Urd looked away with a pained look being able to hear the sound of the hit from so far away.

"Focus Keiichi, in both your attempts you made the same mistakes." Lind moved standing beside Keiichi. "When you punch, move your hips. This will give your punch more power behind it as well as better reach, watch again how I move." Once again Lind demonstrated the punch for Keiichi then nodded to him for him to try. He then gave it another attempt, trying his best to mimic Lind's movement. "Well… it's better, but there is still a lot of room for improvement."

Keiichi was going to try again when Urd approached. "The others have decided it would be less complicated if we all go on the search so I'll be heading out to set up our decoy party first before we go."

Urd was about to continue when Rist came out looking grumpy as usual. "Morisato! Talk to your mortal friends! They called to cry about a car this time!"

Keiichi sighed. "They probably did something to anger the dean again. It would be so like them to do something like this on the day before the race.

"We should go check up what's going on with them; this is the second time they've called." Lind said.

Rist nodded. "Belldandy is waiting for you two already at the garage."

"Thanks Rist." Keiichi said, smiling to her.

"Whatever." Rist said with a shrug and left, having already delivered the message for Belldandy.

Xxxxx

Keiichi, Lind and Belldandy arrived at the motor club to find the members of the motor club in their entirety circled around looking down at something.

"Did someone die?" Keiichi joked to dissolve the tense atmosphere.

"You could say that. Our club is doomed…" Tamiya said his normal overbearing spirit in his voice now here to be found now.

"What happened here?" Lind asked the seniors making a path for her as she approached,.

She found the car broken in pieces, metal bent and parts scattered about, signs of something large and heavy striking the car creating the mess before her. "Who's done this?" Lind asked her disappointment and anger present in her voice.

Belldandy picked up a mirror that was shattered on the ground among the heap of car parts. Lind stood beside as Belldandy took a moment to focus. "My name is Belldandy. In the name of the fragments, uncover the identity of those hidden in the shadows.

Belldandy and Lind watched as an image formed within the reflection of the mirror, as if watching a muted television. In the picture Aoshima stood between two menacing looking men with hammers. With a command from him the two rushed forward. As their hammers came down on the car the image in the mirror ended abruptly, once again showing Belldandy in its reflection. "I should have figured as much. This is the kind of man he is…" Lind said.

"My, my it sure was destroyed thoroughly." Aoshima taunted as he approached. The motor club turning to watch as he smugly approached the members of the motor club.

"Aoshima!" Keiichi shouted.

"What did you come here to do!" Tamyia asked in a less than amused voice.

Aoshima moved over toward the wrecked car. "I heard the motor club's machine was broken, but to carelessly leave it in a place like this you were just asking for someone to break it.

"Why you!" Several members of the club responded in unison with each other.

"Did you break the machine that the motor club put their energy into making?" Tamiya demanded to know.

"Tch… speak for yourselves. You two made me do all the heavy lifting." Lind said, her eyes turned toward the two seniors who backed up nervously. Both frantically muttering apologies.

"Now now, is there any proof that I broke it?" Aoshima questioned, turning to the seniors also. Tamiya made a fist angrily at the intruder. "From the looks of it, even if you start fixing it now you can't possibly make it in time." Aoshima turned his head away and adjusted his glasses. "It can't be helped. Shall I cancel the contest?

Keiichi gasped unbelievingly. "You'd really do that?" Tamiya asked hopefully.

"Yes, but it won't be free. Morisato, you have to apologize to me, right here, right now." The group was taken back by this condition. "If you do that, I'll consider this contest to never have happened." Aoshima chucked as he observed Keiichi's reaction. "_I already know your personality. You're a coward that won't accept a reckless contest. If you show that personality in front of the girls they'll become disgusted with you. It's a perfect scenario."_ Aoshima thought to himself.

Lind watched Aoshima as he plotted against Keiichi, unaware that Lind heard all of those thoughts loud and clear, as if he spoke them aloud for everyone to hear.

"So what's your decision?" Aoshima asked Keiichi."I think it's much better than losing shamefully in the race.

Keiichi took a moment to think the proposal. "I refuse!" Keiichi declared. Lind smiled a slight pink tint showing on her cheeks. She was finding this side to Keiichi rather appealing to her.

"Keiichi?" Belldandy asked in disbelief.

"We won't lose to the likes of you!" Keiichi declared boldly. The pink showing on Lind brightened.

"Well said Morisato!" Tamiya agreed.

Exactly! Got it?" Otaki continued. He and the others turned toward Aoshima. "If you apologize now, we'll forgive you.

"But it's no use putting up a bold front." Aoshima argued. Belldandy watched Keiichi in admiration as the club refused. This look of admiration not going unnoticed by Lind, who suddenly felt very defensive of the other goddess. "No matter how much you try…"

Aoshima was cut off when Belldandy stood before him, her face less than welcoming. "W-what is it?" Aoshima stuttered while on the defensive.

"We will definitely win this match. Please leave." Aoshima's arms went rigid in an awkward manner he vibrated unusually when ordered to leave. Lind noticed the burst of magical energy from Belldandy when she spoke those last two words.

Aoshima's posture went lax, almost like a zombie in all those cheesy horror movies. "Excuse me." Aoshima said in a neutral voice as he walked off. The motor club watching, not sure what to make of the scene.

"I've never seen Belldandy upset before…" Lind said as she stood beside Keiichi.

He looked over at Belldandy for a moment. "Belldandy is mad? She doesn't look like it…"

"Observe." Lind commanded. "Belldandy?" Lind called out.

"Yes?" She turned to Lind. No one responded, still in disbelief. "Oh yes, I made lunch for everyone today…"

"Concerning the upcoming race…" Lind said.

"We'll win!" Belldandy interrupted a fierce look on her face, uncharacteristic to her normal refined and joyful outlook.

"Without a car to compete…"

"We'll win!"

"There is no time for…"

'We'll win! We'll surely win! Keiichi-san, you think so too right?" Belldandy asked.

"Um… yeah…" Keiichi replied dumbly, not sure how to respond.

"See?" Lind asked, Keiichi nodded. Belldandy turned and looked up to the clouds, still looking as defiant as looking as when she sent Aoshima away.

"Yeah…" Keiichi replied.

Xxxxx

The next day was sunny at the race track was sunny. Cameras were set up on the roof and among the roads the drivers would be following for the race. In the stands Lind, Rist, Urd, and Megumi sat together.

"Go! I'm with you!" Urd cheered as she stood up out of her seat.

"Show her your cool side!" Megumi shouted right after.

"Why are we here again?" Rist asked, her arms folded, a huff in her voice.

"To show our support as Keiichi utterly humiliates Aoshima in the race." Urd said to Rist.

"This is so boring, I'm not interested in some pissing contest among two mortals with egos that compromises what little common sense they have, or had." Rist said closing her eyes and turning head away from the race track.

"You're such a bore." Urd turned back toward the track. "Keiichi win no matter what!"

From below dressed in a mechanic uniform Keiichi smiled up at the stands when he heard this as the motor club worked tediously to continue rebuilding the machine, the race now mere minutes away from starting.

"Are you sure you didn't want to enter the race with Keiichi?" Megumi asked Lind.

Lind nodded. "Belldandy is better off tasked with this important mission. The machine is likely going to fall apart during the race given the lack of time to perform proper maintenance. She is familiar with the technology; it's only natural that she goes with him for that reason.

Megumi listened to Lind's explanation, not believing a single word of it. "Well it's your relationship, I guess it only means it's that a strong trust has been well developed between you two."

"How's it going?" Keiichi asked the crew.

Sora stopped working to look up at him. "Even if you ask me how it's going… UWAAHHH!" Sora held her hands over her head as a hissing sound from the machine interrupted her as a dark smoke erupted from the machine. "Not good." Sora said to herself as she scrambled to seal off the leak. "The adjustments are still incomplete, so it's impossible to race this thing!"

"Idiot!" Tamiya shouted at her, making the small girl recoil. "The Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club's off road special is perfect. Aoshima will regret not apologizing when he had the chance!"

"But the course has ups and downs and even sand hills. It's suicidal to race in an incomplete 3-wheeler like this!" Sora pleaded.

"It's not incomplete!" Tamiya shouted, not wanting to lower spirits anymore that they had been already.

Sora turned to Keiichi when he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. I'll cover the rest with my driving.

"But…" Sora began to protest.

"I'll go as far as I can. It's a machine we all fixed up without sleep. I'm sure everyone's efforts will make it run."

"That's the spirit Morisato!" Tamiya and Otaki shouted, suddenly dressed in cheerleading outfits.

"What are you guys doing! Keiichi asked, clearly embarrassed by the display.

"We'll do the assisting cheer for you before the race." Tamiya said the two picking up their pompoms each making very, very ungraceful movements.

In the stands Rist turned away in horror. The sight of the two overgrown men in skirts burned into her memory. "I am soooo out of here!" She said while walking out, not daring to look back as the senior's antics continued.

Xxxxx

In a private booth of their own Sayoko and Aoshima sat observing the starting line. Sayoko sat back observing her cousin as he watched with a binocular.

"Humph… They fixed it in time." Aoshima said as he lowered the binocular.

"What do you intend to do?" Sayoko asked, not liking the smile on his face.

Aoshima leaned back in his seat. "Don't worry, I've prepared for this." He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and raised it to his ear. "This is blue island. Initiate plan A."

Xxxxx

"There we go." Belldandy said to herself as she zipped up her sea green colored overalls with a slight giggle.

"There are now five minutes before the race. All clubs, please start your engines." An announcement sounded from outside. Belldandy closed the locker beside her and walked toward the door.

"Oh no, I must hurry!" Belldandy continued talking to herself. "It's not opening." She realized as the door refused to budge as she continued to struggle with the door knob. Outside were tires, boxes, and drums blocking the door from opening for her. "Is anyone there?" Belldandy called out from inside the trailer she was in.

Xxxxx

Keiichi sat in the driver's seat of the motor clubs vehicle. "What happened to her?" Keiichi asked into the microphone attached to the ear muffs on his head. "If she doesn't appear before the race starts, we'll be disqualified."

"Next is number four, the Nekomi Institute of Technology Four Wheels Club." The announcer said over the track. A horn sounded and the car drove off.

Xxxxx

"I've hired a driver who specializes in off-road racing for this race, but you'll be disqualified before the race even starts." Aoshima ranted about his victory to Sayoko. She looked at her cousin then went for her cell phone.

Xxxxx

"Next is number sixteen, the Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club." The announcer declared.

Urd, Megumi and Lind watched in apprehension. "Belldandy's missing! What happened!" Megumi asked.

Lind's attention was diverted away from the track when she felt the cell phone in her pocket vibrate. Looking at the caller ID she knew Sayoko was on the other end. "? Now is not a…"

"_Tell the staff our family will be participating in the event after all."_ Sayoko said, and then hung up on Lind before getting a reply.

Lind closed the phone and placed it away in her pocket again."He did something again didn't he?" Urd asked. Lind nodded at Urd. "No way!" Urd said, looking furious while she stormed off.

"Please enjoy the races. We must be off, give Keiichi our support will you?" Lind said as she stood up and bowed to Megumi before leaving along with Urd.

Xxxxx

Where is number sixteen, the Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club?" The announcer asked. "You'll be disqualified."

"W-what should I do?" Keiichi asked as he gripped the steering wheel. To answer his question a soft pink light and a humming sound came from the cabin mirror as Belldandy teleported into the passenger seat.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Keiichi smiled as she apologized.

"Belldandy!" Keiichi said in relief.

A few seconds later a man in a blue uniform walked up to the window. "Number sixteen, are you okay with being disqualified?"

Belldandy leaned over to face the man. "No, we'll head out now."

Xxxxx

Aoshima watched in disbelief as the motor clubs machine drove past the starting line. "Impossible! She escaped from their!"

Sayoko couldn't help but smirk at his outburst. "Her escape tricks are out of this world." "_You have no idea…"_ Sayoko thought to herself whimsically.

Aoshima made a fist, not allowing himself to be beaten this easily. "Who do you think I am? I have many more traps prepared!"

Xxxxx

Keiichi drove along the path while Belldandy played her part, feeding him directions. "Decrease average to 40 and go to 50R to the left. Then once you've passed, go 70." Belldandy said as she looked at the sheet attached to the clipboard in her hand.

"Even if you say that, I can't get any speed." Keiichi explained. A bang caused the machine to vibrate violently. "The steering has suddenly…!"

"_The car's voice. The front wheel is almost broken? I understand."_ Belldandy placed her hands on the dash board and took a deep breath.

Focusing on the wheel in question the steering repaired itself for Keiichi, much to his relief. "It's sorted itself out." Keiichi reported.

Belldandy smiled for a moment until she got another message from the car. This time fixing the bolt that held the wheel to the rest of the machine. Afterward beginning to breathe heavily having to use her magic so much over a short time.

"Belldandy what's next?"

Fighting her exhaustion she looked at the clip board again "Yes! Right 100R."

Xxxxx

Back at the starting line Aoshima watched on the large screen as his club's car raced along the track. "These are the times for the cars at the second checkpoint. Currently, in the lead is number four, the Nekomi Institute of Technology Four Wheels Club." The announcer said.

Aoshima sat confidently, laughing to himself. "That's obvious."

From beside him Sayoko looked at the screen worried. "_What are you doing out there Lind?_"

"Following that is the Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club, currently ten minutes behind in second place. It's the smallest of the cars participating today, yet they've reached this place with harmonic teamwork." The announcer notified the crowds.

From his stand Aoshima leaned over the edge looking furious. "Damn, persistent bastards! It's a built in one night machine too! "

"_He intends to do something again… If you're going to stop him Lind, now's the time." _Sayoko thought while watching Aoshima.

This sudden change in Aoshima's mood did not go unnoticed by Urd either. She removed one of the pieces from her earring and blew on it, causing it to glow. She then threw it up into the air, disappearing.

Xxxxx

In the sand portion of the race a black car was parked behind some dunes waiting. "It's almost here." A voice inside the car informed over a radio.

"Be sure you're not seen" Aoshima ordered.

"Roger… Um… we've got a problem here…" The man said over the radio. Aoshima called for a report but was blissfully ignorant of the screams coming from in the car.

Xxxxx

"The steering is going out again…!" Keiichi panicked as he drove over the top of a sand hill and descended. The wheel glimmered a green color and was repaired. "Thank goodness." Keiichi said in relief as the car stabilized once again.

Belldandy held her head up in her hand, feeling dizzy and tired. "_I've used up too much power… We're almost there though."_

"Belldandy, what's up ahead?" Keiichi asked. He waited for a reply, not getting one he looked over in the passenger seat, seeing Belldandy fast asleep next to him with her head resting against the passenger side window. Not paying attention to what was in front of him Keiichi fell into a sand pit.

Xxxxx

In her Valkyrie uniform Lind walked away from the black car with a confident smile. The car now set on fire. In her right hand was her weapon with her other she dragged the driver behind her. Covering his face was a variety of bruises and lumps. She walked calmly even as the car burst into a fireball with a loud bang, a result of the gas tank blowing up. When she was far enough from the burning car she let go of the unconscious man to see Keiichi drive into the sand pit not too far ahead of her.

Xxxxx

"Ouch…" Keiichi groaned as he looked toward Belldandy who was still asleep, but otherwise appeared to be unharmed. "Belldandy! Wake up Belldandy!"

The piece of Urd's earring she tossed before stopped outside of Keiichi's window and puffed into a plume of smoke. From it a chibi Urd appeared. "Urd!" Keiichi said in surprise.

Urd placed her hands on her hips in a sassy manner as she looked at the sleeping Belldandy. "Geez, you're really a handful."

"It's an emergency, Belldandy is…!"

"I can tell by looking." Urd interrupted Keiichi. "She's just entered a dormant state."

"What?" Keiichi asked her as Urd floated inside the car.

"It looks like she's used her powers quite a bit. She won't be awake for a while." Urd explained.

"Powers?" Keiichi questioned.

"This car was really rickety, so she was using her powers to keep it from breaking." Urd explained to him.

Keiichi turned to Belldandy looking distressed about this all. "Lind used her powers much more than this when she fought with Hild and this never happened to her…"

"Baka! Of course! Lind is a warrior goddess after all. It's only natural she'd have superior stamina. You wouldn't be able to run as fast, nor as long as a Japanese soldier, now could you?

"I suppose not…" Keiichi said softly.

"It's a pity, but in this situation, I think you'll have to give up." Urd said to him.

Keiichi thought about why Lind agreed to this race and all the effort the motor club as a whole put into this machine for this race.

"What are you going to do Keiichi?" Urd asked.

"No, I'm not going to giving up. Everyone is counting on me." Keiichi said.

"Well said Keiichi-kun." Lind said as she leaned into the car. "Consider this the spoils of war." She then kissed his cheek. She then stepped away from the machine and the car's engine started up again.

"_Well played Lind…_" The miniature Urd thought as she disappeared into another puff of smoke.

The radio in the car crackled to life. "_Morisato, how is it_?" Tamiya asked.

"I'm currently at point B8." Keiichi responded.

"_All right, got it._" Tamiya replied.

"_Keiichi turn right!_" Sora said over the radio. "_Please go right._"

"Right? Alright, I got it." Keiichi asked as he looked at the track ahead of him and drove off. Lind watched, feeling proud of him, the Keiichi she had first meet months ago in that small dorm room would surely have given up a long time ago.

"Leave Aoshima to me." Lind said while running a thumb over two of the boosters on her uniform, then disappeared with frightening speed. A wake of sand behind her being the only proof she had not actually teleported away.

Xxxxx

"The Nekomi Institute of Technology Four Wheels Club is passing the third and final checkpoint first. Currently, due to wind, the course is covered in sand so the second contestant is over thirty minutes behind. Oh, wait, please wait a minute. I've just received some new information." The announcer mentioned.

Aoshima watched as Keiichi's machine appeared on the widescreen as they sped toward the next checkpoint. "There's a machine catching up on the sand hill!" The announcer cheered. "It's the Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club!"

"What?" Aoshima said in disbelief. Behind him Sayoko just smiled in triumph. "It can't be."

Xxxxx

The center wheel of the car was riding on a thin strip of what appeared to be a road that was sandwiched on either side by sand.

"Why is there a path in a place like this?" Keiichi asked into the radio.

"_It's not a path, they're protection blocks._" Sora said.

"Blocks?"

"_At this sand hill, there are protection blocks buried along the coast. The winds have blown the excess sands over the blocks, creating an of off road path."_ Sora explained.

"I see." Keiichi replied.

"_Only a 3WD can ride on such a thin path. It's your one-man show!" _Sora said, her voice full of confidence.

A confidence Keiichi found infectious. "All right!" Keiichi cheered and pushed the gas pedal to the floor.

Xxxxx

"And they finish." The announcer said as Keiichi passed over the finish line. "First place goes to the Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club!

Kei-chan, you're so cool!" Megumi cheered.

Xxxxx

Aoshima looked on in disbelief as Keiichi rolled over the finish line. "This can't be. Why?"

From behind the two the door opened, Lind and Urd entered the booth with the cousins. Aoshima startled by the entrance. "You just don't learn. Now I get to have fun with you a second time." Lind said, cracking her knuckles in front her. "There is no way Keiichi would lose to the likes of you." She spat.

Sayoko walked up to Lind. "Try not to judge him too harshly hmm?" She said before walking past the two goddesses with their blessings. Lind and Urd looked at each other and nodded before walking toward Aoshima in an aggressive manner. From under the balcony people could see flames and lightning flying outwards along with his pained screams.

Xxxxx

Sometime after the race ended Lind arrived at the parked car and placed her jacket over Belldandy who was still asleep. "Congratulations on your victory Keiichi-kun." Lind said.

"We all played a part in it, not just me." Keiichi said as he got out of the car.

Lind wrapped her arm around his and walked close beside him. "Aren't you just the humble one?" Lind rested her head on his shoulder as they walked.

Keiichi could feel himself getting light headed, his mind drifting to a variety of border line adult fantasies involving Lind. "Uhmm… yeah…"

Lind smiled a bit and looked up at him. "You know I heard those fantasies you thought up."

Keiichi looked nervous, thinking for sure he was about to get beat up. Lind just smiled and rested her head back down on his shoulder again as the two walked off toward the rest of the motor club.

Xxxxx

The group entered the temple together. Lind still beside Keiichi, while Urd held Belldandy on her back. Entering the temple they saw Rist with tea prepared for the group. "Yo! I noticed you lot had a lot of fun over at the race track from all the auras I could sense."

Keiichi noticed the cups at the table. "Did you set this up for us? There's even one for me." He said smiling at her.

Rist looked angry at him. "Are you making fun of me mortal! So what if I wanted a peaceful night from you! Show some gratitude to your betters!"

Keiichi sighed and sat down. "Yes, yes…" He said wearily, not wanting to excite her further. As Urd set her sister down, Belldandy awoke to the sound of the tea being poured.

"Ah, thank you Rist." Belldandy said as she accepted her cup.

Keiichi watched as everyone enjoyed the tea in peace. "This is nice, it feels like we are a family." Keiichi said, creating an odd energy among everyone.

Lind smiled and held her cup out in front of her. "To our newfound family."

Everyone smiled and gently clinked their cups together. "To our family." Keiichi, Urd and Belldandy said in unison. The group looked at Rist who sat there looking uncertain and held her cup to herself.

"Don't be afraid Rist." Belldandy said warmly. "Everyone here acknowledges you as a member of this family.

Rist could feel her cheeks brighten and suddenly very shy. "R-really? Even after all the trouble I caused?" She asked quietly.

"We don't agree with what you did, but it proved your love for Celveria." Belldandy said.

"And the old man that passed away because of me?" Rist asked.

"I saw that night… placing flowers on his grave, the tears you shed. Proof of the guilt that haunts you, as it should. You'll be punished by it, tormented by it for a long time to come. However that torment is also proof of your caring nature, it's because of that part of you that you are welcome. Had you felt nothing at all, I would have sealed you away. It wasn't the prospect of finding Celveria that stopped me, but your own conscious. That conscious is why we welcome you into the family." Lind said. Rist listened, not daring to make eye contact with anyone.

"Families are supposed love and look after one another." Belldandy said.

When the others all nodded to her she felt like she was going to cry. She pressed her cup with the others that patiently waited for her. "To our family." She said softly. Everyone then took a sip together.

Urd moved over toward Rist, pulling her close. "So little one, we need to find you a boyfriend. I noticed a few people in the stands today that were very attractive."

Rist puffed her cheeks and pushed Urd away. "Don't be stupid! I can find someone if I wanted to!" Rist shouted at Urd.

The others laughed together, watching as Urd continued to tease Rist despite her protests.

Xxxxx

* * *

Author Thanks:

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

Kaiser696, HotelKatz, Danyman, NefCanuck, BrazeRancor, IwriteThings, ZeroTheDestroyer, dragon-cloud16.

Cheers to the single person who added me to favorite author list.

HotelKatz.

For the special people who added my story to their alert list.

NefCanuck, Okiro Zangetsu Requiem, Avatar's Creed, dragon-cloud16, Chocoboknight, Bunta-san, abazaba, khaoticryu, TryTo, azal.

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

Zane34, man of the western light, Spiritblade, Okiro Zangetsu Requiem, IwriteThings, ZeroTheDestroyer, Neo Ride Double Xtreme, Kaleflex, Mikey123, Chocoboknight, abazaba, DHB-Spike, BluePuffBall, life-good-hp, Geese1.

And to the betas who somehow draw out the patience to work with me.

mjnousak, Bob, Another Duck.


	10. Ah! To be the queen!

Thank you everyone for your ideas and comments on the chapters and in a landslide of a vote I'll remain to keep chapters around 8000 words.

Here's the next instillation. I added numerous Easter Eggs to this chapter, try to find them all if you think you can. Enjoy. :)

* * *

A bell sounded as students began packing away books and note pads. "Don't forget to read chapters thirteen, fourteen and fifteen. There will be a quiz on them next class," the professor said to the backs of students as they filed out of the classroom.

Keiichi sighed and let his head drop down on his bag. "This is going to be horrible. I could barely follow the lecture today."

"Don't surrender yet, we have a week to prepare for the exam still," said Lind while standing up out of her seat.

Belldandy followed Lind's lead, also standing. "We can have an evening to study together."

Xxxxx

Keiichi, Lind and Belldandy walked out of classroom among the last few straggling students. Once outdoors the three see Sayoko sitting on a bench in deep thought. As they approached Lind and Belldandy could see the troubled aura Sayoko was giving off.

"Something troubling you Ms. Mishima?" Belldandy asked as the girls all sat together on the bench.

"Oh!" Sayoko turned toward Belldandy looking surprised, followed by a comforted one. "What a relief, a little higher power help is just what I need. I've found myself in a bit of a situation.

"What can we do for you?" Keiichi asked.

Sayoko sighed, "I was supposed to host a fundraiser dinner for the local fancy suits and they were to contribute to the charity donations my company is gathering if they enjoy themselves at the gathering."

Belldandy clasped her hands together in delight of the idea and Lind nodded approvingly. "That's great Sayoko." Keiichi said, but then looked confused. "How is that a trouble?"

"She cannot attend," Lind filled in before Sayoko had a chance to answer herself.

Sayoko looked at Lind and smiled awkwardly. "You told me you could read human minds, but actually witnessing it firsthand is… well to be blunt… rather disturbing."

Keiichi rubbed the back of his head and chuckled a bit. "It's not disturbing," Lind said softly as she turned her head away.

Sayoko sighed to herself at her poor choice of words. "Anyways… Our family is having a formal gathering and skipping out is not an option. If you knew my father you'd understand."

Lind looked back to Sayoko. "We take care of it for you."

"You would? That would be wonderful!" Sayoko cheered. "The fundraiser event is tomorrow. Will you be ready by then?"

"Quite." Lind assured her. "We can send Rist. It will be good for her. She needs to interact more with people."

"Of course she will need to arrive at my office the morning before the event to keep up appearances," Sayoko added.

Keiichi thought about that, an image of Rist sitting at the end of a table, men in fancy suits cowering in fear under the table as she casted spells where the men were once sitting. Keiichi rubbed the back of his head nervously. Lind turned to Keiichi, and shook her head 'no' at him.

"Enjoy your family gathering," Belldandy said as Sayoko stood up and bowed her head to the goddesses before walking away.

Lind and Belldandy stood up and the three began walking toward the motorcycle. "So how exactly is she going to pull this off?" Keiichi asked.

Lind glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Confident they were alone Lind altered her appearance and looked like a perfect copy of Sayoko, though in the same clothing before the appearance switch.

"That's great. Can she mimic her voice also?" Keiichi asked rather interested as he sat down and waited for Belldandy and Lind to get to their usual spots before starting the engine.

"Yes Keiichi-kun, even the pitch of her voice," Lind said before reverting her appearance back to normal. "It's one of the many skills silver wings learn when going through training. Besides fighting we also excel in infiltration, interrogation and other forms of intelligence gathering. Rist is no exception to this."

Xxxxx

"What!" Rist shouted at Keiichi and Lind in the tea room. Urd and Belldandy peaked into the room curiously. They saw Keiichi plugging his ears, in front of him was Rist looking especially angry. "You must be out of your flippin minds if you two think I'm going to impersonate some rich, mortal girl!"

"You will do this, Sayoko has been honoring her end of our agreement, and it's time we do the same in her hour of need," said Lind.

"Sayoko? You mean the owner of that apartment you held be prisoner at? Now I'm really determined not to go because of that forsaken woman," Lind moved faster that Keiichi's eyes could follow when Rist began to leave. With a single action Lind blocked Rist from leaving the room and startling her at the same time with the display of speed. "You're really serious about this," Rist commented before making a distained face. "Ugh, fine~! But you lot owe for this!" Lind nodded and stepped aside. Belldandy and Urd also cleared a path, watching Rist as she stomped off toward her room.

"Poor girl… Well at least she will not be alone in her torment," Urd said as she floated off also, leaving Belldandy looking bewildered.

Xxxxx

Urd sat down in a rather luxurious looking seat and smiled wickedly as she waited, resting her head on her left hand. She hears doors open and she looked up. "You know I punish people I catch trying to sit in that chair," Hild said as she walked up and stood beside Urd with a smile on her face. "Or that's what I normally would perform on the offender. However since I have hopes of you inheriting that throne as the future demon ruler I can tolerate this transgression."

"I'm afraid I cannot accept that as my pride as a goddess, Urd said coyly.

Hild's smile faded a bit hearing that as Urd stood up, Hild taking her daughter's place. "So what can I do for my little Urd-chan?"

"Belldandy delivered your message to me and now she and I would like your assistance in exchange for helping you return here from the gate being sealed," said Urd.

Hild laughed a bit at this. "If I correctly recall it was a silver wing who was responsible the gate. It fell on your shoulders to resolve. I do not owe you or her anything."

"It's funny how everything seems to be our responsibility in your eyes," Urd said sarcastically.

Hild merely shrugged. "What can I say? We demons are the ones who cause messes and those in heaven clean it up, those are the rules to how the game is played."

"What do you think of causing a bit of trouble in heaven then?" Urd asked.

Hild leaned forward a bit showing some interest. "It does sound fun, but the grief I'll catch from the almighty may not make worth doing."

Urd chuckled knowingly. "I figured you'd say something like that. So what do you want in exchange?"

Hild smiled. "I want you to move on down here…"

"Absolutely not, there's no way I will not abandon my pride as a goddess. Pick something else," Urd said.

Hild looked at her daughter offended. "Let me finish. Twenty-four hours. For that amount of time you get this throne and all the privileges that come with it."

"You want me…" Urd pointed at herself. "…to be the Daimakaichō?"

Hild smiled and nodded. "For twenty-four hours."

Xxxxx

"_I can't believe I'm doing this…"_ Rist thought to herself as she sat in a limousine. Beside her was a fancy dressed woman with blond hair and blue eyes holding a clipboard, reading off the schedule on it.

"7 a.m. You have your quarterly income report meeting."

"7:35 a.m. you have a private meeting with the CEO of…"

Rist closed her eyes to drown out the woman's voice as she droned on. Rist began to drift off into a sleep. The next thing she noticed as she woke up she had stopped.

", we've arrived," Rist looked up at the man speaking at her, still in a bit of a haze as she sat up. "Let me help you out miss."

"W-wha? Why do you keep calling me that?" Rist asked as she stood outside the car, rubbing her eyes.

The driver and the secretary looked at each other awkwardly. "It's your name miss…"

Rist looked at the mirror behind the driver and in the reflection was Sayoko staring back at her. "Oh… Right, well carry on then." Rist said as she entered the building in front of her, the secretary behind her.

"We need to get you upstairs; you're going to be late for the quarterly report meeting," she said as she followed Rist.

Rist turned when she heard a 'bing' as an elevator door to her right opened and several people filed out. "_Better time this right…."_ Rist thought while eying the woman behind her who was still going on about today's schedule. When the woman looked back down at the clipboard Rist began to walk toward the elevator at a brisk pace.

"And finally tonight you have the charity event to attend to…." The secretary looked up. "Miss?" She looked around panicked. She saw Rist standing in the elevator behind a few others. "H-hold the elevator please!" The secretary pleaded as the doors began to close while she tried her best to run in her skirt.

Rist smiled at the woman as the doors were closing in front of her while ignoring the older looking woman's requests. "_This will teach you not to wear such a tight skirt." _The doors were nearly completely closed when the secretary's clipboard stopped the doors from shutting at the last second. Rist sighed as the doors reopened to allow the secretary in. _"It seems I underestimated my adversary…" _

"I-I'm happy to know you're eager to go to this meeting for once," The secretary tried to praise while catching her breath.

"_Sayoko can't be here and with her father. If anyone attending the meeting knows where Sayoko really is this mission will be a bust…" _Rist thought while on the elevator. "Cancel it." Rist said quickly.

The woman suddenly looked disappointed. "The senior members of the company flew in too…"

"Are you questioning me mortal!" Rist snapped at secretary beside her. Everyone in the elevator stared awkwardly at who they thought to be Sayoko. Rist coughed into her hand. "I am tired and not feeling well, tell those who arrived for the meeting I had other more important matters to attend to."

"O-Of course, I'll have your room here prepared for you right away miss." The secretary said quickly.

"_Sayoko has an apartment here too? Well I might as well try to enjoy myself on this mission," _Rist thought to herself with a smile. "_I wonder if I can hire chefs to cook for me…"_

Xxxxx

Urd looked irritated as she stared at Hild. "That's a tall order. To agree I have other conditions. You have to do exactly what I request. Deviate from what I ask even slightly and the deal's off also."

Hild looked like as if she was going to cry tears of joy. "Such bold declarations and spoken without fear of repercussions. Such a fine ruler you will become in the future. It makes a mother feel so proud," Hild said getting closer to Urd in-between sentences and hugging her when done talking. Urd let out a groan but otherwise didn't fight the hug. "Very well Urd, I yield. Tell me your demands."

Urd broke out from the hug by teleporting out of Hild's arms, causing her mother to pout. "Now listen up, we want you to teleport into Yggdrasil when we do. Afterward you are to wait five minutes then attack the Valhalla training fields, making as much noise as possible while doing so to distract heaven's forces in its entirety, Urd explained.

Hild created an image of the field magically and inspected it thoroughly, attack ideas racing through her mind. "The fields are dangerously close to the Valhalla office where a majority of the silver wings on standby status are stationed. It will take the average goddesses from that office about three minutes to respond and after that anywhere between ten to thirty minutes for the officers to analyze what's happening and to recall all the silver wings on assignments at other realms. I can last roughly ten minutes against the first responders before I am overpowered by their sheer numbers and forced to flee; this is assuming the fight goes in my favor. If you want more time than that I'll need to bring some other demons with me. Also once the active silver wings begin to return I will likely get driven out of heaven, even with the added support so if you're not done on your side of things at that time it's your problem."

"S_he's got a lot of information on this. She's considered attacking heaven in the past." _Urd took a moment to second think this plan as she stared at the magical projection of the training fields. "Very well, but the same conditions apply to them as I've explained to you, if any of your people begin to get a mind of their own and deviate from the plan then I won't consider this or any similar agreement ever again."

Hild seemed less than happy about hear that from Urd but agreed with a nod. "I have an idea already who would be useful for this little operation," Hild said while waving away the floating image. "Is there anything else?"

Urd shook her head. "I'll contact you when we are prepared. Keep yourself and those demons you've chosen unoccupied until then."

"Now then Urd-chan, it's time for you to hold up your end of the deal, if you'll follow me. We have an inheritance ceremony to attend," said Hild.

Xxxxx

"Your room is ready for you miss," The secretary said as she sat in front of Rist at Sayoko's desk.

"I'm sorry, this is kind of awkward. What is your name again?" Rist asked.

The woman sighed. "Over worked and underappreciated…" Rist heard the woman whisper to herself. "My name is Tsumugi; everyone in the office just calls me Mugi though."

"You've had a rough day… why not take the day off? You look like you could use a break," Rist said as she stood up and walked around the desk.

"Really?" Mugi asked her. Rist could tell from Mugi's aura the woman was expecting this to be a hoax.

Rist nodded to her. "In fact take the whole week off."

Mugi smiled as she stood up. "T-Thank you miss! I don't the last time I've had time off!" She then, without warning, hugged Rist. "Have you been working out miss?" Mugi asked noticing her usually firm physique.

"Ah, I just got a gym membership, thought I could use some conditioning," Rist said.

"Well I think your fit enough for both of us miss," Mugi commented before bowing and leaving. As she walked down the hall way Rist watched as Mugi's fingers moved in front of her as if she were playing what Rist thought to be a keyboard.

Xxxxx

"And so let it be known that for the next twenty-four hours that Urd has been given all the position of Daimakaichō and the authority that goes with it." Hild said. The demons attending the ceremony whispered to one another, not knowing what to make of this seen.

"My control may only be temporary, but I trust I'll have everyone's full support," Urd said while seeing the looks on the few that actually attended the meeting. Most of them leaving with repulsed looks. The only exception this were four that were watching from the back wall. Urd noticed during the entire speech none of those four so much as frowned. Urd turned around and sat in the throne of Niflheim, she beckoned with a single finger for Hild to approach. "Who are those four, there in the back?" Urd asked.

Hild leaned over to whisper. "Good spot, Urd-chan, those are the four riders; you could call them your generals. In times of war demons are assigned to one of those four based on skill. Of them three are only slightly above par in power but are excellent leaders. The female with the blond hair however, she is someone to look out against. In time she may be able to rival me in power." Hild explained.

"Tell me about her," Urd ordered while nodding toward that woman.

"Her name is Hagall; she is Niflheim's leading illusionist artist. A form of magic rarely practiced here." Hild explained. "Is there anything else?

"The other three are dismissed, Hagall however I wish to meet," Urd said.

Hild then stood back up and looked toward the four. "Your queen has allowed your leave riders." Without any signs of their thoughts the four began to walk out in a neat line. "Hagall!" The blond stopped moving as the other three riders left her in the room. "Your queen wishes to speak with you."

Hagall walked toward Urd, stopping at the first step before the throne Urd was occupying. She then kneeled and lowered her head. "What do you desire of me my queen?" Hagall asked without looking back up.

"I am feeling, thirsty. I want you to personally fetch me some of the finest wines you can find." Urd commanded followed by a large grin on her face.

Hagall looked up, stealing a quick glance from the corner of her eye at Hild who was giggling slightly. "…As you command…" Hagall then turned around and left the throne room.

"How dare you! Hagall-sama is one of the four riders; she should not be commanded like some peon. An insult furthered by the fact that a goddess is the one giving the orders. One demon said hotly among a small crowd of demons who had not yet left the room."

"I agree. I can never accept the commands of a goddess, even if she is your daughter Hild." Another demon said.

Urd laughed, further infuriating the two demons. "Who are you two?" Urd asked between chuckles.

Both demons grinded their teeth together in the frustration they felt building within. For a moment Urd thought they might actually attack by the looks on their face. "Your queen asked you a question. It would not be wise to anger her any further," Hild said in a singsong voice.

"Yui," The first demoness said.

'Ritsu," The second replied.

Urd took a moment to take in the defiant look in their eyes. "Hild." She turned to look at Urd. "Those two seem in need of some rough discipline, wouldn't you agree?"

Hild smiled at the two who were now fearfully hugging each other. "Oh I couldn't agree more." Hild said in a delightful manner as she approached the two. The room seemed to darken, the only source of light around being the red glow from Hild's eye. The screams of the two echo the room, when the room is light again Hild is revealed to be standing beside the two demoness, who now lay on the floor there clothing and skin singed.

"Mhmm… So have we learned our lessons?" Hild said as she stood beside the two.

"Y-yes, Hild-sama." The two said weakly as they continued to lay there.

Urd took a moment, considering the two who were laying there. "I think I will make them my servants, the rest are free to leave." Hild nodded and made a quick hand signal and the group that had remained left rather hastily before they too ended up on the wrong end of a spell from Hild.

Xxxxx

Rist wandered around the office floor, the workers standing aside and bowing to her before going about their assigned tasks. While walking around she took in all the sights and sounds around her. Men and women were working within small cubicles. The sounds of phones ringing, people speaking and the echoes of buttons on a keyboard being pressed down filled the area. She heard an elevator open up and a single black haired woman exited alone and made a dash for her desk, uncharacteristic to everyone else on this floor. Curiously Rist followed the woman to her cubicle. She watched as the woman placed a plastic sheet over her seat before sitting down. Rist raised an eyebrow at this unusual display, still watching from some distance away.

She was so entranced by the girl's unusual actions she is oblivious of the man that was walking up behind her. "Good morning Ms. Mishima." The man said while bowing.

Surprised Rist turned to face him. "Oh, good morning."

"I see it didn't take you very long to notice Mio, she's the office germophobe. She goes through this ritual of her's every morning before she will start her actual work for the day." The young man said.

"Is that so…" Rist said as the she watched Mio clean her desk and telephone with disinfectant wipes.

The man's watch began to beep just then. "Well if you'll excuse me miss, another busy, busy day." Rist paid him no mind as devious ideas popped into her mind. She looked around her and smiled when she noticed someone had left behind a bottle of water.

Rist glanced around casually before taking the bottle. She then walks away with it and sticks two of her fingers in the bottle to soak them as she walks up behind Mio. She then flicks her wet fingers at Mio while making a sneezing sound. "Sorry about that, I have allergies." Rist said as she walks away from Mio who is now stiff with a horrified look on her face.

When Rist is some distance away she breaks out into laughter, heads poking out of their cubicles as Rist walked them and toward the nearest elevator.

Xxxxx

From outside a sound of a crash is heard along with a body falling. Urd and Hild watch in amusement as Hagall stumbles into the room, a cart behind her containing several opened bottles. "Heyuhh Quenshe~ I dun kno wines veary well…" Hagall stumbles, the half empty bottle she was holding shattered besides against the stone floor. "I think I found the besht one, I tried dem all fer you queenshe. Me thinks I should just sleep now."

Hild laughs when Hagall turns over to rest her head on the floor. "What a delightful girl," Hild said while looking through the contents of the tray, returning with two bottles, handing one of them to Urd.

Urd took a sip from the bottle of wine that had been given to her. "Ah… this is the life… More fanning!" Beside Urd was Ritsu and Yui, each demoness waving large leaf like objects toward Urd as fast as they could, fatigue showing on their faces was proof they had been at this routine for some time now.

"Hey Riichan… This kinda reminds me of the time we blackmailed Sawako with those photos," Yui said as her while flapping had simmered down to a struggle to raise her arms from exhaustion.

"It seems karma has bitten us in the rear. Say when were done want to go cause some mayhem? I hear realm 6847 is packed with people that have been scorned and just looking for a little demonic assistance," Ritsu said.

Yui made a joyful squealing noise with Ritsu. "It sounds delightful, I can hardly wait."

"Just another 13 hours to go…" Ritsu cried out.

"Aren't they just so hard working. It makes you proud, wouldn't you agree?" Hild asked while looking toward Urd.

"I do have to admit I'm somewhat curious to see what they can plot against the people there." Urd replied. Hild smiled when she noticed Urd's markings temporarily change from blue to red, then back to blue.

Xxxxx

Rist stepped out onto a large well kept grassy field wearing light brown clothing from head to toe. "Ah, it's good for you to join me Ms. Mishima," an older looking man said while Rist walked up to him.

"Thank you for the invitation Hideki." Rist replied.

"You've been reluctant in joining. I'm a bit surprised after all those stories of how you had no interest in golf." Hideki said as he straightened out from a swing.

"Well what can I say? I thought I might as well give it a chance. Who knows, maybe I might join you more often if I enjoy myself today. So how do we play?" Rist asked while eyeing the various numbered clubs in her bag she was instructed to bring with her.

"Well this is only a practice range. In an actual game there are nine holes and the objective of the game is to shoot your ball into a series of nine or eighteen holes with as little amount of swings as possible," Hideki explained.

"And we use these metal sticks to hit the balls?" Rist asked as she removed one from her bag and held it in her hands like a sword. The wind whistling as she swung it rather closely to the man with a calm look on her face, a contrast to the nervous looks of Hideki as he grabbed hold of the club when it was not moving, taking it away from her.

"Here, I'll demonstrate," Rist watched in amusement as Hideki got into position beside the ball rest on a tee before swinging. The two watched as the ball flew through the air before landing some distance before landing.

"Although it seems simple…" Rist ignored Hideki as she took the closest club in her bag which happened to be a putting club, shaking it a bit in front of herself to get a feel for the weight. "….Developing a sweet swing like mine takes years~" Hideki's speech was interrupted by the sound of a ball being hit when Rist singlehandedly swung the club in identical to how he had moments ago. The club stopping behind her in a rough recreation of what Hideki demonstrated. "Woah…" He watched in astonishment as the ball continued to fly through the air, well beyond the tree line that marked the end of the range.

Xxxxx

As if was being electronically guided the golf ball flew right though a plate glass window, shattering it before continuing on in an apartment kitchen. Like a miniature wrecking ball it shattering several plates that got into its flight path. Two boys watched in surprise and amazement as the ball rolled between them before finally coming to a halt. "What did I tell you two brats about rough housing! This is the fourth time in the last two weeks I've heard you break something!" An angry female voice shouted from another room when the crash was heard.

"Run!" The two boys shouted at each other before rushing out the front door as their mother chased after them both.

Xxxxx

"Like that?" Rist asked smugly.

Hideki was at a loss of words. "H-How…. W-well this isn't a distance game, it's an accuracy one. You need control also to get your golf ball close to the hole you're shooting for," he scolded.

"Alright then, pick out a spot and I'll hit it there," Rist said naively.

"I don't suppose you've been to a horse racing event, have you?" Hideki asked, suddenly losing his interest for showing her how to play the game anymore.

Xxxxx

Urd, Hild, Yui and Ritsu were sitting together, each looking less than sober as they were laughing together. The wine cart beside them. Along the wall, out of the way Hagall was still passed out. Occasionally speaking aloud about whatever it was she was dreaming about currently.

"Oh, oh me next! I got one!" Ritsu said while raising her hand."This is a great one…"

"Hurry ups~ Rii-chan~" Yui said, her voice slurred more than the others.

"Okay okay! So, some humans are at a political gathering and a rather portly looking woman. The woman said to the man beside her," _"You are drunk Sir, you are disgustingly drunk." "_And so he replies…" "_Yes, miss, I am drunk. But you, miss are ugly, and disgustingly fat. But, tomorrow morning, I will be sober and you will still be ugly."_

As the four laughed together, Yui fell over as her drink spilled onto the floor beside, passed out from her excessive drinking. The three remaining girls looked at the now snoring demon before looking at each other. The three remaining drinkers broke out into laughter again. Urd was completely unaware her markings were now remaining a solid red.

"Phew…" Hild said wiping a tear from her eye from all her laughing. "Well let me just say this, we need more politicians like that man down here with us," Hild said with a smile as she took a quick glance at Urd's demon colored markings.

"I'll toast to that," Ritsu said as she filled the cups again. All three of them drank together at the same time. "Things would be a lot more lively I suspect if that were the case."

Xxxxx

In her Valkyrie uniform Rist watched from a building corner across the street as many important looking individuals entered the Pan Pacific Yokohama who had volunteered one of their ballrooms for the gathering. Rist took a deep breath then changed her appearance to pose as Sayoko. "Time to mingle with the capitalists one last time…" Rist said to herself with a bit of disdain as she walked toward the front door of the building herself. "_I can't wait for this day to end._"

Inside the ballroom she marveled at the ballroom. The ceiling was a finely polished and cleaned stone that had soft blue florescent bulbs that ran the length of the ceiling corners that gave the room a magical feel to the scenery when combined with the candle light from the chandeliers. Above her and to the left were balconies decorated with tan colored curtains tied off in a decorative manner. Half of the room was filled with numerous tables, each designed for six guests, and the other half of the room was cleared for dancing and on stage were live performers for the evening.

"_Sayoko really pulled out all the stops to organize this, as expected of the campus queen,_" Rist thought to herself as the hotel staff moved about the floor. Stepping further into the room she noticed that several of the guests were observing her in less than subtle manners. Watching them she couldn't help but to mentally inform them of proper surveillance methods that don't involve magic. She tried listening in on the various conversations; however the numerous voices and echoes from the building turned any noises into an incoherent melting pot. The only voices even remotely understandable were from those closest to her.

The idea being a bust she decided to forget the ill advised plan before it develops a headache for her as the first couple of the night decides to approach her. The first being was a man rather long in the tooth with a woman in age and close in appearance to Lind that some might consider the two sisters. "Thank you for the invitation to this lovely gathering." The woman said and bowed her head to Rist.

"Ah, I do what I can to give back to society." Rist said sounding uncomfortable already in this situation.

The two smiled back knowingly. "Yes, good publicity is always a good way to get the masses to invest in your stocks, isn't that right dear," the man said and Rist could have sworn there was a hidden meaning to that message given the unusual aura about the man Rist could see.

Rist also noticed a drastic and sudden change in the girl's aura when he addressed her before it slowly fading back to a calm state. "Oh yes, anything to keep you at the top of the stock market," she replied.

The man chuckled a bit while Rist could tell the woman was in serious contempt about something in their relation.

"I hope your enjoying yourselves tonight, Rist said.

"Quite so," the man replied quickly. "Have you tried the wine? It's quite exquisite in flavor," the man asked.

"I have not," Rist said rather bluntly, uncharacteristically to Sayoko normal appearances. The two before caught this and the awkward looks were proof of this. "I cannot be drinking while hosting the event. I have been enjoying some tea instead, Rist said quickly to recover and alleviate suspicions.

"Very good then, tea do you prefer? Pangea, or perhaps White crane?" The woman asked.

Rist shook her head. "Usually I have Lipton Tea."

The two beside Rist seemed taken aback, not expecting that for an answer. "Well… let's leave her to her tea, shall we?" The woman said in a nasty, mocking tone and the man nodded and they both walked off laughing.

Rist scolded herself mentally, watching as the two walked off. "_This is exactly why I didn't want to go! Someone formal with better communication skills would have been better suited for this portion of the mission. I already want to strangle these mortals…_" Rist thought to herself as she sat down at a corner table, putting as much distance from herself and the guests as possible. She sat and watched as some couples danced together. While others gossiped with one another about whatever was the hot topic of the evening. She sighed; considering this was going to end horribly she sat and thought about what Keiichi and the others were doing right now. All the while wishing the event would end already.

"Such a flower like yourself shouldn't be alone and sad looking." Rist looked up to see an attractive young man standing beside her. "You know if you make that face long enough the lines will stick. How about a dance to help lighten your mood," the man asked while offering his hand to help her up while in the background the current song being performed by the live performers was ending and another was starting.

Reluctantly Rist agreed and the two went out onto the dancing floor and waited until the song actually began. When the actual dancing began Rist found herself out of her element and it didn't take long for her to miss a step and the guy's toes were the unsuspecting victim of the error. "I am sorry… I should go," Rist said feeling completely embarrassed and began to leave the floor until he stopped her.

"How about you lead and I'll follow your movements?" The man suggested and smiled to reassure her. "_He reminds me a lot of Belldandy in character,"_ she thought and agreed to the idea. The two started again and this time for the better and continued on to the end without any mishaps. "See, you're not so bad after all."

Rist bowed her head. "Thank you for coming; perhaps you donate some funds for the charity?" Rist asked.

The man seemed to frown at this and he sat down at the nearest chair as Rist joined him. "Don't tease Sayoko; you know I have no money to my name like the rest here."

"Oh… right, forgive me. It's been a long day for me and I am tired, if you'll excuse me," Rist said and left the table. The smile on the man's face faded as he watched Rist walk off.

Rist walked about randomly waving occasionally to guests. "Ma'am, you need to leave, you were not invited and are upsetting the other guests. We'll have to ask you kindly to leave," Rist heard a hotel staff member say from a gathering crowd.

Going around the gathering guests that were forming a circle Rist noticed two men trying to lift a rather round figured woman with disheveled clothing out of her seat as she continued to gorge herself.

"Who is this person?" Rist asked as she continued to watch the staff's futile attempts of lifting her.

"That's Cherie Roseamunt. She was the sole owner of a coal mine. As you can see she has quite the appetite for fine foods. However once the mines dried up it didn't take long for her to eat her way through her fortunes. Now she crashes gatherings like this one to fulfill her appetite," a man beside Rist explained before leaving the gathering ring of men and women.

Rist nodded and approached the staff and dismissed them from the area. "Excuse me Ms. Roseamunt; you are making a rather unfortunate scene. Will you consider conducting yourself in a more refined manner if you wish to remain?"

"EH!" Cherie took a quick glance at Rist before finishing of whatever was in her cup. "You listen to me little miss! I'll have you know I am a very wealthy and esteemed land owner. You all should feel grateful I decided to grace this sorry excuse of a gathering with my presence. Now be a good little lass and fetch me another drink."

Rist sighed. "I'll be happy to do so if you agree to make a donation to the charity."

Cherie shifted in her chair surprisingly fast for someone of her figure. "Why you insolent little brat." Cherie stood up and threw the empty wine glass at Rist who caught it expertly, mere centimeters from her face. The other guests all backed up in reflex while Rist stared at the glass before setting it down on the table.

"I believe the gentlemen of the hotel were correct. You have most definitely worn out your welcome. I'll have to ask you to leave," Rist said firmly, nearly forgetting to alter her voice.

"Those two couldn't get me to leave but by all means miss give it a try," Cherie said as she sat back down in her chair.

"Troublesome mortal," Rist whispered while she grabbed Cherie's arm, dragging her across the floor toward the door. The other guests clearing a path for her as the larger woman shouted and fought to stay.

The young man who Rist danced with either walked out from the crowd and picked up the glass Rist caught before and thought about her catching it before setting it back down. "I don't know about the rest of you however, I for one, would not want to get on Ms. Mishima's bad side given what she just demonstrated for us." The crowd began to whisper among each other. "I think donations to the charity would vastly improve her thoughts toward you," he finished unaware Rist had already decided to leave for the evening.

Xxxxx

Urd looked at the watch, noticing the twenty four hours were up. As she lowered her wrist she saw Hild sitting beside Yui and Ritsu. The two had both passed out from earlier events. "Well that's it. Twenty-four hours have passed; I am free to go now." As she was saying that, an unusual feeling of regret came over her. "_W-what did she do to me?"_ Urd thought.

"So it would seem…." Hild said, unusually sad sounding. "Perhaps we can do this again sometime. It has been a blast partying with you three."

"That would be gr…." Urd caught herself when she felt happy at the idea. "I doubt that will be possible."

"We shall see, take care of yourself Urd-chan," Hild said while hugging her daughter. "Come on I'll escort you to a television so you can return to the earth realm."

Xxxxx

Keiichi, Lind and Belldandy sat together in the tea room. Keiichi read a repair manual, while Belldandy knitted to her own song she humming, and Lind sharpened her axe in the corner. Occasionally blowing on the edge and running a finger along the blade to test the sharpened state of the metal. Each of them were listening to the sounds of the rain outside while enjoying their activities. "I wonder how Rist is doing, she should have returned sometime last night. I'm starting to get worried about her. Do you think we should go find her?"

Lind stopped sharpening for a moment to answer. "She is a silver wing Keiichi. Rist would find it insulting if we went looking for her every time she doesn't arrive on time. Have some faith in her." Reluctantly Keiichi let the matter drop and went back to reading.

The three looked up in surprise when the doors to the tea room opened. Before them was Rist, soaking wet from the rain. She was standing in a hunched over position, her eyes were red with bags below them. "What happened to you?" Lind asked while Keiichi ran out of the room.

Rist lazily turned her head, still standing in the hallway as Keiichi returned with a yellow towel. "Thanks Keiichi." She said sincerely as she wrapped the cloth around her shoulders, then let out a sneeze. "Oh it was horrible! I had no idea Sayoko was so busy. Over the day I used up nearly all my energy at her work place. Then after the charity event, due to maintaining that illusion for so long, I had no energy to teleport here so I had to walk all night through the rain to get back!"

Belldandy hugged Rist. "You poor child."

"Stop your complaining; just consider it a test of endurance. If I could manage it, you could also," Lind said disappointed.

"No wonder you're considered the most violent goddess in heaven," Rist retorted with what little energy she had. Lind stopped running a stone over her axe and looked up at Rist evilly, getting a scared eep from her co-worker.

As Belldandy let go of Rist Urd walked in and stood beside Rist and Belldandy. She looked over to see Rist shivering and exhausted. "Wow kiddo, what happened to you? You look like hell girl." Everyone looked at Urd awkwardly, they all wanting to say something but not sure what to. "What? Do I have something on my face? Stop staring at me like that!" Urd said meanly.

Rist sighed, too tired to argue loudly. "I'm not the only one who looks like hell; you fit that description very nice also you know."

"What are you talking about? Explain yourself!" Urd said now getting annoyed with them for some reason she wasn't even sure of.

"Nee-san…" Belldandy whispered.

Lind handed a mirror to Urd. "Have a look for yourself."

She looked onto the reflection, making a fist in frustration and fury when she noticed the red markings. "That Hild! I knew she was up to something. She must have been hoping for this! "

Keiichi looked worried, "Well this is troubling. I hope it's not permanent."

Belldandy rested a hand on Keiichi's shoulder to comfort him. "Urd is… unique. If anyone can return to normal it would be her."

Lind peaked at Belldandy out of the corner of her eye. "Unique how?"

"Well she…" Belldandy was interrupted by the sound of Urd straining herself as she focused on an object that was not there for anyone to see.

Urd turned around to face the group in a nervous sweat. "Well?" Everyone shook their heads. "I'll never forgive her for this!"

"Maybe your markings will turn blue again on their own?" Keiichi asked.

"It's not that simple Keiichi. We can't just become demon by flipping on a light switch," Lind explained as she went to sit back down. "We will just have to think up causes for this, until we find what is responsible we should continue as planned."

"Easy for you to say," said Urd as she left the others alone.

Rist sadly watched from the hall as Urd walked away, sneezing as Urd turned toward her room. "Are we really going to have her go through this alone?"

Lind took a sip of tea while Keiichi and Belldandy watched her, waiting for an answer. "Of course not, however we can do more for her with Yggdrasil's help. When we go to visit heaven we can deal with it then. Until then she will have to endure. If Hild is responsible; which seems to be the case, then the ordinary measures will not stand up against what she might have done to Urd."

* * *

Author thanks:

Thanks to the following for your reviews and ideas.

HotelKatz, Kaiser969, NetCanuck, LukeGreen, Hanzo of the Salamander, DragonGolem, Shortchannel4

For those who liked my story enough to put it on alert.

Jack99theotaku, Britai, Eiland, LukeGreen, Hanzo of the Salamander, Morality0duality, DragonGolem

For those kind enough to favorite my story.

Jack99theotaku, longmasher, arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, Britai, LukeGreen, Darknnight2000, Zexs, Hanzo of the Salamander, Lord Magius, bigaboy1987, likyss, Morality0duality, Andrea Te, WillRiker

Thanks to the following for adding me to author alert.

Jack99theotaku, Okiro Zangetsu Evangelion, Hanzo of the Salamander, The War General, kayarn

A warm thanks to those who added me as a favorite author

Okiro Zangetsu Evangelion, Hanzo of the Salamander

And a shout to the betas.

Mjnousak, Another Duck


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